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 Podunk:
43.013028, -72.862036
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.
We found eight communities that are also named Podunk.
Within Vermont, the name Podunk is unique.
Beyond Vermont, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Connecticut
Hartford County
This community is historic<1> and although located in Hartford County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of Podunk.
New Haven County
This Podunk is located in New Haven County and lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<2> to the south of the Podunk that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Haven County community of Podunk.
Massachusetts
Worcester 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 Massachusetts community of Podunk [Worcester County].
Michigan
Barry County
This Podunk is located in Barry County and lies 633 miles [1,018.7 km]<2> to the west of the Podunk that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barry County community of Podunk.
Gladwin County
This Podunk is located in Gladwin County and lies 589 miles [947.9 km] to the west northwest of the Podunk that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gladwin County community of Podunk.
Washtenaw 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 Michigan community of Podunk [Washtenaw County].
Nevada
Washoe County
This community is historic<1> and although located in Washoe County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washoe County community of Podunk.
New York
Tompkins County
This Podunk is located in Tompkins County and lies 195 miles [313.8 km]<2> to the west of the Podunk that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tompkins County community of Podunk.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Podunk ...
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.
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Podunk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Podunk and extending to:
Newfane, which is the Seat of Windham County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Podunk to Newfane, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
Montpelier, which is the State Capital of Vermont, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 357 miles [574.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,554 miles [8,938.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,267 miles [10,085.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,142 miles [6,665.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 Podunk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Podunk) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Podunk 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>
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.
<6>
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 Podunk 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 Podunk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.0130, Longitude: -72.8620
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.972 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.801 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.066 degrees.