RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Pierce County >> Berkeley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Berkeley:
    • 47.073989, -122.335397
    • 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 Berkeley
  • 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 Pierce County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce County
    • Since Berkeley is near King County and also Thurston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Thurston 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 Berkeley

Communities Also Named Berkeley ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Berkeley.

Within Washington, the name Berkeley is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Alameda County
      • This Berkeley is located in Alameda County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<1> to the south of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alameda County community of Berkeley.
    • Colorado
      • Arapahoe County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Berkeley [Arapahoe County].
    • Florida
      • Hernando County
      • This Berkeley is located in Hernando County and lies 2,481 miles [3,992.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hernando County community of Berkeley.
    • Georgia
      • Madison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Berkeley [Madison County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Berkeley is located in Cook County and lies 1,718 miles [2,764.9 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Berkeley.
    • Indiana
      • Boone County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Berkeley [Boone County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Berkeley is located in Saint Louis County and lies 1,703 miles [2,740.7 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Berkeley.
    • New Jersey
      • Ocean County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Berkeley [Ocean County].
    • North Carolina
      • Nash County
      • This Berkeley is located in Nash County and lies 2,387 miles [3,841.5 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nash County community of Berkeley.
      • Wayne County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Berkeley [Wayne County].
    • Ontario
      • This Berkeley lies 1,989 miles [3,201 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence County
      • This Berkeley is located in Providence County and lies 2,487 miles [4,002.4 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Providence County community of Berkeley.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Berkeley [Berkeley County].
    • Virginia
      • Albemarle County
      • This Berkeley is located in Albemarle County and lies 2,281 miles [3,670.9 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albemarle County community of Berkeley.
      • Charles City County
      • This Berkeley is located in Charles City County and lies 2,370 miles [3,814.1 km] to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles City County community of Berkeley.
    • West Virginia
      • Berkeley County
      • This Berkeley is located in Berkeley County and lies 2,260 miles [3,637.1 km]<1> to the east of the Berkeley that is located in Pierce County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkeley County community of Berkeley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Berkeley ...

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.

  • Croker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Croker is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croker
  • Electron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Electron is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electron
  • Elk Plain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elk Plain is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Plain
  • Fern Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fern Hill is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Hill
  • Firwood ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Firwood is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firwood
  • Graham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Jims Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jims Corner is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jims Corner
  • Lakeview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeview is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Loveland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Loveland is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
  • Meeker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Meeker is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
  • Prairie Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Prairie Ridge is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Ridge
  • Rocky Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Rocky Ridge is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
  • Tanwax
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tanwax is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanwax
  • Thrift
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Thrift is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrift

How Far From Berkeley 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 Berkeley to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tacoma, which is the Seat of Pierce County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Berkeley to Tacoma, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 26 miles [41.8 km] to the west (W). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,322 miles [3,736.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,808 miles [10,956.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,570 miles [12,182.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,691 miles [9,158.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Berkeley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Berkeley 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Berkeley 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 Berkeley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0740, Longitude: -122.3354       In this case, the coordinates for Berkeley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.85 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.375 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.80 degrees.