RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Connecticut >> Tolland County >> Somers >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Somers, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Somers 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 Somers:
    • 41.983430, -72.449529
    • 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 Somers
  • 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 Tolland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tolland County
    • Since Somers is near Hartford County and also Hampden County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hartford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampden 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 Somers

Communities Also Named Somers ...

We found two communities that are also named Somers.

Within Connecticut, the name Somers is unique.

Beyond Connecticut, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Westchester County
      • This Somers is located in Westchester County and lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the southwest of the Somers that is located in Tolland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westchester County community of Somers.
    • Wisconsin
      • Kenosha County
      • This Somers is located in Kenosha County and lies 788 miles [1,268.2 km]<1> to the west of the Somers that is located in Tolland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kenosha County community of Somers.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Somers ...

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 Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Baptist Village is located in Hampden County (MA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Village
  • Crescent Grove ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crescent Grove is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Grove
  • Crystal Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crystal Lake is located in Tolland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
  • Forest Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Park is located in Hampden County (MA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Hazardville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hazardville is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazardville
  • Kings Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Kings Corner is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Corner
  • Longmeadow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Longmeadow is located in Hampden County (MA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,624 people
  • Quarryville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Quarryville is located in Tolland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarryville
  • Rockville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Shaker Pines
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shaker Pines is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Pines
  • Warehouse Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Warehouse Point is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warehouse Point
  • Warehouse Point Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Hartford, which is the State Capital of Connecticut, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Somers to Hartford, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 321 miles [516.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,577 miles [8,975.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,285 miles [10,114.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,161 miles [6,696.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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- Somers) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Somers 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 Somers. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9834, Longitude: -72.4495       In this case, the coordinates for Somers have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.862 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.506 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.383 degrees.