RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Hampden County >> Chester Center >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Chester Center, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chester Center 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 Chester Center:
    • 42.290723, -72.924360
    • 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 Chester Center
  • 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 Hampden County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampden County
    • Since Chester Center is near Hampshire County and also Berkshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkshire 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 Chester Center

Communities Also Named Chester Center ...

We found two communities that are also named Chester Center.

Within Massachusetts, the name Chester Center is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Middlesex 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 Connecticut community of Chester Center [Middlesex County].
    • Ohio
      • Geauga County
      • This Chester Center is located in Geauga County and lies 435 miles [700.1 km]<2> to the west of the Chester Center that is located in Hampden County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Geauga County community of Chester Center.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chester Center ...

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.

  • Brush Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brush Hollow is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Hollow
  • Chester
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Chester is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,365 people
  • Crescent Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crescent Mills is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Mills
  • Dayville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Dayville is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayville
  • Knightville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Knightville is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightville
  • Littleville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Littleville is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
  • Loudville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Loudville is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loudville
  • Ringville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Ringville is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringville

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

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

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Hampden County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Chester Center to Springfield, 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 95 miles [152.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 318 miles [511.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,585 miles [8,988.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,295 miles [10,130.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,171 miles [6,712.6 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 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 Chester Center 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chester Center) 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 Chester Center 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 Chester Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2907, Longitude: -72.9244    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.107 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.833 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.448 degrees.