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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Carlson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Carlson 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 Carlson:
    • 46.700108, -122.199552
    • 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 Carlson
  • 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 Lewis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis County
    • Since Carlson is near Pierce County and also Thurston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce 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 Carlson

Communities Also Named Carlson ...

We found nine communities that are also named Carlson.

Within Washington, the name Carlson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Carlson lies 571 miles [918.9 km]<1> to the north of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
    • Florida
      • Sumter County
      • This Carlson is located in Sumter County and lies 2,472 miles [3,978.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Carlson.
    • Michigan
      • Baraga 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 Michigan community of Carlson [Baraga County].
      • Gogebic County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Carlson [Gogebic County].
    • Minnesota
      • Swift 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 Minnesota community of Carlson [Swift County].
    • Nebraska
      • Scotts Bluff County
      • This Carlson is located in Scotts Bluff County and lies 979 miles [1,575.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scotts Bluff County community of Carlson.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Elk County
      • This Carlson is located in Elk County and lies 2,149 miles [3,458.5 km]<1> to the east of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elk County community of Carlson.
    • Texas
      • Travis County
      • This Carlson is located in Travis County and lies 1,732 miles [2,787.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Travis County community of Carlson.
    • Wyoming
      • Lincoln County
      • This Carlson is located in Lincoln County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Carlson that is located in Lewis County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Carlson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Carlson ...

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.

  • Clay City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Clay City is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
  • Harmony
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Harmony is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Mineral
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • National
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • National is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National
  • New Reliance
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • New Reliance is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Reliance
  • Ohop
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Ohop is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohop
  • Ohop Bob
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Ohop Bob is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohop Bob
  • Park Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Park Junction is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Junction
  • Reliance
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Reliance is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
  • Surprise Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Surprise Valley is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surprise Valley

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

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

  • Chehalis, which is the Seat of Lewis County, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Carlson to Chehalis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 40 miles [64.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,317 miles [3,728.9 km] to the east (E). Driving 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 6,830 miles [10,991.8 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 7,593 miles [12,219.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,709 miles [9,187.7 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' (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- Carlson) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Carlson 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 Carlson 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 Carlson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7001, Longitude: -122.1996       In this case, the coordinates for Carlson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.719 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.203 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.737 degrees.