RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Luzerne County >> Zenith >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Zenith, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zenith and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Zenith:
    • 41.030640, -76.188822
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Zenith
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
    • Since Zenith is near Columbia County and also Schuylkill County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Zenith

Communities Also Named Zenith ...

We found eight communities that are also named Zenith.

Within Pennsylvania, the name Zenith is unique.

Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Crawford County
      • This Zenith is located in Crawford County and lies 722 miles [1,161.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Zenith.
    • Illinois
      • Wayne County
      • This Zenith is located in Wayne County and lies 680 miles [1,094.4 km]<1> to the west of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Zenith.
    • Kansas
      • Stafford County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Zenith [Stafford County].
    • Montana
      • Meagher County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Zenith [Meagher County].
    • North Dakota
      • Stark County
      • This Zenith is located in Stark County and lies 1,389 miles [2,235.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stark County community of Zenith.
    • Tennessee
      • Fentress County
      • This Zenith is located in Fentress County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fentress County community of Zenith.
    • Washington
      • King County
      • This Zenith is located in King County and lies 2,290 miles [3,685.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of Zenith.
    • West Virginia
      • Monroe County
      • This Zenith is located in Monroe County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Zenith that is located in Luzerne County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Zenith.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zenith ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Dennis Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Dennis Mills is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Mills
  • Dogtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dogtown is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Fern Glen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Fern Glen is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Glen
  • Five Points
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Points is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Foundryville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Foundryville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
  • Fowlersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Fowlersville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowlersville
  • Glen Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Glen Junction is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Junction
  • Gum Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gum Run is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Run
  • Hobbie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hobbie is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbie
  • Lime Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lime Ridge is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
  • Mountain Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
  • Pond Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Pond Hill is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Hill
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rock Glen
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rock Glen is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Glen
    • Summer Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Summer Hill is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
    • Tomhicken
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken
    • Willow Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Willow Springs is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

How Far From Zenith to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Zenith to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Zenith and extending to:

  • Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Zenith to Wilkes-Barre, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 63 miles [101.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 153 miles [246.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,772 miles [9,289.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,484 miles [10,435 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,360 miles [7,016.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zenith) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Zenith, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Zenith could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Zenith to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Zenith. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0306, Longitude: -76.1888       In this case, the coordinates for Zenith have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.22 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.013 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.486 degrees.