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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Renton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Renton 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 Renton:
    • 47.485112, -122.217545
    • 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 Renton
  • 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 King County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King County
    • Since Renton is near Kitsap County and also Pierce County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kitsap County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pierce 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 Renton

Communities Also Named Renton ...

We found three communities that are also named Renton.

Within Washington, the name Renton is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Calhoun 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 Michigan community of Renton [Calhoun County].
    • Ontario
      • This Renton lies 2,043 miles [3,287.9 km]<2> to the east of the Renton that is located in King County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Renton is located in Allegheny County and lies 2,136 miles [3,437.6 km]<2> to the east of the Renton that is located in King County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Renton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Renton ...

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.

  • Cascade
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cascade is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Coal Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Coal Creek is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
  • Five Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Five Corners is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
  • Gregory Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Gregory Heights is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory Heights
  • High Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • High Valley is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Valley
  • Highline
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Highline is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highline
  • Hillman City ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillman City is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman City
  • Hilltop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilltop is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Holly Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Park is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
  • Kennydale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Kennydale is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennydale
  • Lake Desire
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Desire is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Desire
  • Maple Valley Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Maplewood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Maplewood is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Maplewood Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Maplewood Heights is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Heights
    • May Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • May Creek is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Creek
    • Skyway
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Skyway is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyway
    • South Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • South Park is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Park

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

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

  • Seattle, which is the Seat of King County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Renton to Seattle, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,315 miles [3,725.6 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,779 miles [10,909.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,541 miles [12,136.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,664 miles [9,115.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

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 Renton 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 from Point A (ie- Renton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Renton 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 Renton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4851, Longitude: -122.2175    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.773 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.306 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.692 degrees.