RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Worcester County >> Blackstone >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blackstone, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blackstone 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 Blackstone:
    • 42.017876, -71.541174
    • 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 Blackstone
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since Blackstone is near Providence County and also Norfolk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Providence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk 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 Blackstone

Communities Also Named Blackstone ...

We found eight communities that are also named Blackstone.

Within Massachusetts, the name Blackstone is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, six are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Fresno 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 California community of Blackstone [Fresno County].
    • Illinois
      • Livingston County
      • This Blackstone is located in Livingston County and lies 887 miles [1,427.5 km]<2> to the west of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Blackstone.
    • Kansas
      • Sumner 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 Kansas community of Blackstone [Sumner County].
    • Maine
      • Aroostook County
      • This Blackstone is located in Aroostook County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Blackstone.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Blackstone lies 581 miles [935 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
    • Ontario
      • This Blackstone lies 470 miles [756.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Westmoreland County
      • This Blackstone is located in Westmoreland County and lies 430 miles [692 km]<2> to the west of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Blackstone.
    • Virginia
      • Nottoway County
      • This Blackstone is located in Nottoway County and lies 483 miles [777.3 km]<2> to the southwest of the Blackstone that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nottoway County community of Blackstone.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blackstone ...

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.

  • Branch Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Branch Village is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branch Village
  • Crooks Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Crooks Corner is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooks Corner
  • Forestdale
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Forestdale is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
  • Globe
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Globe is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Hamlet
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hamlet is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
  • Ironstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Ironstone is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironstone
  • Rakeville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rakeville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rakeville
  • Slatersville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Slatersville is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slatersville
  • Social
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Social is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Social
  • Union Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Union Village is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village

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

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Blackstone to Worcester, 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 most of a day.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 34 miles [54.7 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 360 miles [579.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,537 miles [8,910.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,244 miles [10,048.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,120 miles [6,630.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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 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 Blackstone 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blackstone) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Blackstone 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 Blackstone. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0179, Longitude: -71.5412       In this case, the coordinates for Blackstone have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.314 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.894 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.96 degrees.