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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Birchwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birchwood 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 Birchwood:
    • 48.773442, -122.512670
    • 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 Birchwood
  • 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 Whatcom County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Whatcom County
    • Since Birchwood is near Skagit County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Skagit County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Juan 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 Birchwood

Communities Also Named Birchwood ...

We found seventeen communities that are also named Birchwood.

Within Washington, the name Birchwood is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Birchwood lies 1,359 miles [2,187.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
    • Arkansas
      • Pulaski 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 Arkansas community of Birchwood [Pulaski County].
    • Connecticut
      • Hartford County
      • This Birchwood is located in Hartford County and lies 2,418 miles [3,891.4 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of Birchwood.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Birchwood is located in Cook County and lies 1,736 miles [2,793.8 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Birchwood.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Birchwood is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 2,345 miles [3,773.9 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Birchwood.
    • Michigan
      • Berrien County
      • This Birchwood is located in Berrien County and lies 1,787 miles [2,875.9 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berrien County community of Birchwood.
      • Cheboygan County
      • This Birchwood is located in Cheboygan County and lies 1,778 miles [2,861.4 km] to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cheboygan County community of Birchwood.
    • Minnesota
      • Washington County
      • This Birchwood is located in Washington County and lies 1,407 miles [2,264.3 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Birchwood.
    • New York
      • Nassau 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 York community of Birchwood [Nassau County].
    • North Carolina
      • Alamance County
      • This Birchwood is located in Alamance County and lies 2,322 miles [3,736.9 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alamance County community of Birchwood.
      • Pitt County
      • This Birchwood is located in Pitt County and lies 2,429 miles [3,909.1 km] to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pitt County community of Birchwood.
    • Ontario
      • This Birchwood lies 2,055 miles [3,307.2 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
    • Tennessee
      • Hamilton County
      • This Birchwood is located in Hamilton County and lies 2,106 miles [3,389.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Birchwood.
      • Meigs 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 Tennessee community of Birchwood [Meigs County].
      • Montgomery County
      • This Birchwood is located in Montgomery County and lies 1,945 miles [3,130.2 km] to the east southeast of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Birchwood.
    • Wisconsin
      • Kewaunee County
      • This Birchwood is located in Kewaunee County and lies 1,668 miles [2,684.4 km]<1> to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kewaunee County community of Birchwood.
      • Washburn County
      • This Birchwood is located in Washburn County and lies 1,457 miles [2,344.8 km] to the east of the Birchwood that is located in Whatcom County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washburn County community of Birchwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Birchwood ...

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.

  • Alderwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Alderwood is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderwood
  • Chuckanut Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
  • Dewey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Dewey is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Eureka
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Eureka is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Fairhaven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fairhaven is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Ferndale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Forest Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Forest Ridge is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ridge
  • Geneva
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Happy Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Happy Valley is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
  • Noon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Noon is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noon
  • Silver Beach
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach

How Far From Birchwood to ...

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 Birchwood to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bellingham, which is the Seat of Whatcom County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Birchwood to Olympia, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,327 miles [3,744.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 133 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,700 miles [10,782.6 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 7,461 miles [12,007.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,596 miles [9,005.9 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- Birchwood) 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 Birchwood 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 Birchwood 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 Birchwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.7734, Longitude: -122.5127       In this case, the coordinates for Birchwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.074 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.72 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.785 degrees.