Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Holden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Holden and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Holden
- 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 Holden:
- 42.350607, -71.861994
- 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 Holden
- 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 Holden is near Middlesex County and also Hampshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- eBird sighting report for Hampshire 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 Holden ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Holden.
Within Massachusetts, the name Holden is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Holden lies 1,985 miles [3,194.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Holden that is located in Worcester County.
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec
- This Holden lies 455 miles [732.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Holden that is located in Worcester County.
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Holden ...
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.
- Burncoat
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Cherry Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
- Cherry Valley is located in Worcester County
- Fairlawn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Heard Street
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heard Street have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Street
- Heard Street is located in Worcester County
- Island
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Jamesville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamesville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
- Jamesville is located in Worcester County
- June Street
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for June Street have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for June Street
- June Street is located in Worcester County
- Lakeview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Lakeview is located in Worcester County
- Lambs Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lambs Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Grove
- Lambs Grove is located in Worcester County
- Lower Wire Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Wire Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Wire Village
- Lower Wire Village is located in Worcester County
- Pinecrest
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Rice Square
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice Square have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Square
- Rice Square is located in Worcester County
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Ruralville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruralville
- Ruralville is located in Worcester County
- Rutland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
- Rutland is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,024 people
- Salisbury Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Heights
- Salisbury Heights is located in Worcester County
- Sandy Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
- Sandy Beach is located in Worcester County
- Union Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Worcester County
- Unionville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Worcester County
- University Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
- University Park is located in Worcester County
- Woodland Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
- Woodland Park is located in Worcester County
- Ruralville
How Far From Holden 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 Holden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Holden and extending to:
- Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 41 miles [66 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Holden to Boston, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 360 miles [579.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,538 miles [8,912.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,246 miles [10,052 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,122 miles [6,633.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Holden: www.townofholden.net/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Holden) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Holden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3506, Longitude: -71.8620 |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Holden, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Holden 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Holden to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.458 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.113 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.937 degrees. |