Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Athens, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Athens and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Athens
- 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 Athens:
- 44.923114, -69.672830
- 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 Athens
- 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 Somerset County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Somerset County
- Since Athens is near Piscataquis County and also Kennebec County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Piscataquis County
- eBird sighting report for Kennebec 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 Athens ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Athens.
Within Maine, the name Athens is unique.
Beyond Maine, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jewell 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 Kansas community of Athens [Jewell County].
- Woodson County
- This Athens is located in Woodson County and lies 1,420 miles [2,285.3 km]<1> to the west of the Athens that is located in Somerset County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Woodson County community of Athens.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Athens lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the west of the Athens that is located in Somerset County.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Athens ...
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.
- Castle Harmony
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Harmony
- Castle Harmony is located in Somerset County
- Cornville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Harmony
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Harmony is located in Somerset County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 895 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harmony <5>
- Hartland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Hartland is located in Somerset County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,724 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartland <5>
- Huff Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huff Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huff Corner
- Huff Corner is located in Piscataquis County
- Mainstream
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mainstream have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainstream
- Mainstream is located in Somerset County
- Martin Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martin Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Corner
- Martin Corner is located in Somerset County
- Moody Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moody Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody Corner
- Moody Corner is located in Somerset County
- Rice Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rice Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Corner
- Rice Corner is located in Somerset County
- Stronghold
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stronghold have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stronghold
- Stronghold is located in Somerset County
- Wildwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
How Far From Athens to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Athens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Athens and extending to:
- Skowhegan, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Athens to Skowhegan, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 42 miles [67.6 km] to the south (S). 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 about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 561 miles [902.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,348 miles [8,606.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,064 miles [9,759.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,939 miles [6,339.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Athens. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Athens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9231, Longitude: -69.6728 In this case, the coordinates for Athens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Athens 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> | 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 Athens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Athens to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 302.697 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 298.58 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 298.535 degrees. |