RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Norfolk County >> Braintree Highlands >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Braintree Highlands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Braintree Highlands 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 Braintree Highlands:
    • 42.179266, -71.011991
    • 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 Braintree Highlands
  • 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 Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
    • Since Braintree Highlands is near Plymouth County and also Suffolk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk 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 Braintree Highlands

Curious and Interesting Names Near Braintree Highlands ...

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.

  • Accord
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Accord is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Accord
  • Braintree
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Braintree is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braintree
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 37,074 people
  • Five Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Five Corners is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
  • Four Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Idlewell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Idlewell is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewell
  • Liberty Plain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Liberty Plain is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Plain
  • Lincoln Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln Heights is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
  • Merrymount
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Merrymount is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrymount
  • Milton Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Milton Center is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Center
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Old Boat Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Boat Point is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Boat Point
    • Post Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Post Island is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Island
    • Randolph
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Randolph is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Estimated population in 2019: 34,362 people
    • Rock Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rock Island is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
    • Rockland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
    • Summer Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Summer Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Heights

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Braintree Highlands and extending to:

  • Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Braintree Highlands to Dedham, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 12 miles [19.3 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 388 miles [624.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,509 miles [8,865.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,091 miles [6,583.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Braintree Highlands) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Braintree Highlands 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 Braintree Highlands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1793, Longitude: -71.0120       In this case, the coordinates for Braintree Highlands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.974 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.539 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.642 degrees.