Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bourne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bourne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bourne
- 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 Bourne:
- 41.741217, -70.598920
- 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 Bourne
- 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 Barnstable County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Barnstable County
- Since Bourne is near Plymouth County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
- eBird sighting report for Bristol 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 Bourne ...
We found four communities that share the name Bourne.
Within Massachusetts, the name Bourne is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bourne ...
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.
- Buzzards Bay
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buzzards Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzards Bay
- Buzzards Bay is located in Barnstable County
- Cedarville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Plymouth County
- Cedarville Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville Landing
- Cedarville Landing is located in Plymouth County
- Forestdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
- Forestdale is located in Barnstable County
- Gray Gables
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray Gables have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Gables
- Gray Gables is located in Barnstable County
- Indian Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Heights
- Indian Heights is located in Plymouth County
- Monument Beach
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monument Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Beach
- Monument Beach is located in Barnstable County
- Onset
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset
- Onset is located in Plymouth County
- Onset Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onset Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset Station
- Onset Station is located in Plymouth County
- Pondville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Sandwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Swifts Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swifts Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swifts Beach
- Swifts Beach is located in Plymouth County
How Far From Bourne 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 Bourne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bourne and extending to:
- Barnstable, which is the Seat of Barnstable County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Bourne to Barnstable, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 48 miles [77.2 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 391 miles [629.3 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,508 miles [8,864.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,211 miles [9,995.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,088 miles [6,579 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Bourne: www.townofbourne.com/
The official website for Barnstable County: www.barnstablecounty.org/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Bourne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bourne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7412, Longitude: -70.5989 In this case, the coordinates for Bourne 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 Bourne 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> | 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 Bourne 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 303.794 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.263 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.684 degrees. |