Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Allston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Allston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Allston
- 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 Allston:
- 42.358430, -71.125886
- 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 Allston
- 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 Suffolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Suffolk County
- Since Allston is near Norfolk County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 Allston ...
We found three communities that share the name Allston.
Within Massachusetts, the name Allston is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Oregon
Curious and Interesting Names Near Allston ...
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.
- Boston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
- Boston is located in Suffolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 691,531 people
- Camp Ted
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Chestnut Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
- Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Downtown Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downtown Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downtown Crossing
- Downtown Crossing is located in Suffolk County
- Everett
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
- Everett is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 46,107 people
- Fields Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fields Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Corner
- Fields Corner is located in Suffolk County
- Fort Independence
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Independence
- Fort Independence is located in Suffolk County
- Grove Hall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Hall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Hall
- Grove Hall is located in Suffolk County
- Highland
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Longwood Station
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longwood Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood Station
- Longwood Station is located in Norfolk County
- Meeting House Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meeting House Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeting House Hill
- Meeting House Hill is located in Suffolk County
- Mount Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Suffolk County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Reservoir
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Strawberry Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Hill
- Strawberry Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Winter Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winter Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Hill
- Winter Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Oak Grove
How Far From Allston 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 Allston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Allston and extending to:
- Boston, which is the Seat of Suffolk County, lies just to the East.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies just to the east (E).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 391 miles [629.3 km]<4> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Allston to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 23 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,507 miles [8,862.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,214 miles [10,000.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,090 miles [6,582.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Allston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Allston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Allston 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> | 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Allston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Allston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3584, Longitude: -71.1259 In this case, the coordinates for Allston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Allston 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 304.015 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.616 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.601 degrees. |