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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in College Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to College Hill 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 College Hill:
    • 42.233427, -71.810627
    • 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 College Hill
  • 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 College Hill is near Middlesex County and also Windham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham 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 College Hill

Communities Also Named College Hill ...

We found seventeen communities that are also named College Hill.

There is one other community in Massachusetts that is also named College Hill.

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

  • Communities Located In Massachusetts ...
    • 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 Massachusetts community of College Hill [Middlesex County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Columbia County
      • This College Hill is located in Columbia County and lies 1,310 miles [2,108.2 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of College Hill.
    • Florida
      • College Hill #1
      • This community is historic<1> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for College Hill.
    • Indiana
      • Cass 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 Indiana community of College Hill [Cass County].
    • Kansas
      • Cowley 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 College Hill [Cowley County].
    • Kentucky
      • Madison County
      • This College Hill is located in Madison County and lies 719 miles [1,157.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of College Hill.
    • Mississippi
      • Lafayette County
      • This College Hill is located in Lafayette County and lies 1,099 miles [1,768.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lafayette County community of College Hill.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis County
      • This College Hill is located in Saint Louis County and lies 995 miles [1,601.3 km]<2> to the west of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of College Hill.
    • Ohio
      • Athens 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 Ohio community of College Hill [Athens County].
      • Guernsey County
      • This College Hill is located in Guernsey County and lies 533 miles [857.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guernsey County community of College Hill.
      • Hamilton County
      • This College Hill is located in Hamilton County and lies 697 miles [1,121.7 km] to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of College Hill.
      • Knox County
      • This College Hill is located in Knox County and lies 557 miles [896.4 km] to the west of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of College Hill.
    • Oregon
      • Lane County
      • This College Hill is located in Lane County and lies 2,545 miles [4,095.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of College Hill.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Beaver County
      • This College Hill is located in Beaver County and lies 451 miles [725.8 km]<2> to the west of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaver County community of College Hill.
    • Tennessee
      • Rhea County
      • This College Hill is located in Rhea County and lies 847 miles [1,363.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rhea County community of College Hill.
    • Texas
      • Bowie County
      • This College Hill is located in Bowie County and lies 1,378 miles [2,217.7 km]<2> to the west southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bowie County community of College Hill.
    • Virginia
      • Lynchburg City
      • This College Hill is located in Lynchburg City and lies 512 miles [824 km]<2> to the southwest of the College Hill that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lynchburg City community of College Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near College Hill ...

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.

  • Cherry Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Valley is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
  • Dorothy Pond
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dorothy Pond is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy Pond
  • Heard Street
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Heard Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Street
  • Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Island is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
  • Jamesville ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jamesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
  • June Street
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • June Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for June Street
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Pinecrest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinecrest is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
  • Pondville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Pondville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
  • Rice Square
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rice Square is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Square
  • Union Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Union Hill is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • University Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • University Park is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
  • Woodland Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Woodland Park is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

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

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from College Hill to Boston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 357 miles [574.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six 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 5,540 miles [8,915.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,124 miles [6,636.9 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 College Hill 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- College Hill) 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 College Hill 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 College Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2334, Longitude: -71.8106       In this case, the coordinates for College Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.444 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.077 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.973 degrees.