RoadsideThoughts
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The Commemorative Quarter for Massachusetts







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bay State, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bay State and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Bay State:
    • 42.324025, -72.663317
    • 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 Bay State
  • 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 Bay State ...

We found one communities that share the name Bay State.

Within Massachusetts, the name Bay State is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named Bay State in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Cattaraugus County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Bay State [Cattaraugus County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bay State ...

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.

  • Florence
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Hampshire County
  • Great Swamp
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Swamp have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Swamp
    • Great Swamp is located in Hampshire County
  • Hockanum
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hockanum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockanum
    • Hockanum is located in Hampshire County
  • Laurel Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
    • Laurel Park is located in Hampshire County
  • Loudville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loudville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loudville
    • Loudville is located in Hampshire County
  • Moody Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moody Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody Corner
    • Moody Corner is located in Hampshire County
  • Mount Tom
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Tom have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tom
    • Mount Tom is located in Hampshire County
  • Mountain Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
    • Mountain Park is located in Hampden County
  • Plainville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
    • Plainville is located in Hampshire County

How Far From Bay State 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 Bay State to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Bay State and extending to:

  • Northampton, which is the Seat of Hampshire County, lies just to the East.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 82 miles [132 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Bay State to Boston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 329 miles [529.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,573 miles [8,968.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,283 miles [10,111.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,158 miles [6,691.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bay State. 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 Bay State 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>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.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Bay State) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay State. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3240, Longitude: -72.6633       In this case, the coordinates for Bay State have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Bay State 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 304.945 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.656 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.313 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 05 Dec 2024