Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Athol, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Athol and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Athol
- 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 Athol:
- 42.593897, -72.227156
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Athol
- 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Worcester County
- Since Athol is near Franklin County and also Cheshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- eBird sighting report for Cheshire 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Athol ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Athol.
Within Massachusetts, the name Athol is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Bates County
- This Athol is located in Bates County and lies 1,200 miles [1,931.2 km]<2> to the west of the Athol that is located in Worcester County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bates County community of Athol.
- Jackson County
- This Athol is located in Jackson County and lies 1,183 miles [1,903.9 km] to the west of the Athol that is located in Worcester County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Athol.
- New York
- Nova Scotia
- This Athol lies 450 miles [724.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Athol that is located in Worcester County.
- Ontario
- This Athol lies 267 miles [429.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Athol that is located in Worcester County.
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athol ...
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.
- Baptist Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baptist Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Corners
- Baptist Corners is located in Worcester County
- Blissville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blissville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blissville
- Blissville is located in Franklin County
- Dana ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Dana Center
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dana Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana Center
- Dana Center is located in Worcester County
- Eaglesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eaglesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglesville
- Eaglesville is located in Worcester County
- Glenallen
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Mayo Corners
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Corners
- Mayo Corners is located in Franklin County
- Orange
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Orange is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
- Otter River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otter River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter River
- Otter River is located in Worcester County
- Partridgeville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Partridgeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridgeville
- Partridgeville is located in Worcester County
- Pitcherville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pitcherville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitcherville
- Pitcherville is located in Worcester County
- Sky Farm
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
How Far From Athol 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 Athol to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athol and extending to:
- Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Athol to Worcester, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 61 miles [98.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 358 miles [576.1 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,544 miles [8,922.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,254 miles [10,064.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,130 miles [6,646.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athol. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
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 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 Athol 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' (or 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- Athol) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5939, Longitude: -72.2272 |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Athol to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.644 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.362 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.981 degrees. |