Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pontiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pontiac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pontiac
- 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 Pontiac:
- 41.731212, -71.478670
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Pontiac
- 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 Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kent County
- Since Pontiac is near Providence County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Providence County
- eBird sighting report for Bristol 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Pontiac ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Pontiac.
Within Rhode Island, the name Pontiac is unique.
Beyond Rhode Island, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Livingston County
- This Pontiac is located in Livingston County and lies 890 miles [1,432.3 km]<2> to the west of the Pontiac that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Pontiac.
- Saint Clair County
- This Pontiac is located in Saint Clair County and lies 998 miles [1,606.1 km] to the west of the Pontiac that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Pontiac.
- Indiana
- Boone County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Pontiac [Boone County].
- Clay County
- This Pontiac is located in Clay County and lies 831 miles [1,337.4 km]<2> to the west of the Pontiac that is located in Kent County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Pontiac.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Quebec
- South Carolina
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pontiac ...
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.
- Arctic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Birch Hill ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birch Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Hill
- Birch Hill is located in Kent County
- Centerville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Kent County
- Clyde
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Folly Landing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Folly Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folly Landing
- Folly Landing is located in Kent County
- Garden City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Providence County
- Greenwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Harris
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Hillsgrove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsgrove
- Hillsgrove is located in Kent County
- Knightsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knightsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
- Knightsville is located in Providence County
- Lincoln Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Kent County
- River Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
- River Point is located in Kent County
- Silver Hook
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Hook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hook
- Silver Hook is located in Kent County
- Spring Green
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
- Spring Green is located in Kent County
How Far From Pontiac 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 Pontiac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pontiac and extending to:
- Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies just to the north northeast (NNE).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 351 miles [564.9 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Pontiac to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 20 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,546 miles [8,925.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,251 miles [10,060 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,128 miles [6,643.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pontiac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Rhode Island: https://www.ri.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Pontiac 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pontiac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pontiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7312, Longitude: -71.4787 In this case, the coordinates for Pontiac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Pontiac to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.317 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.85 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.076 degrees. |