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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Columbus Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Columbus Park 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 Columbus Park:
    • 42.255649, -71.834238
    • 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 Columbus Park
  • 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 Columbus Park 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 Columbus Park

Communities Also Named Columbus Park ...

We found three communities that are also named Columbus Park.

Within Massachusetts, the name Columbus Park is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Ada 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 Idaho community of Columbus Park [Ada County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis County
      • Although located in Saint Louis County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Columbus Park.
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This Columbus Park is located in Erie County and lies 560 miles [901.2 km]<2> to the west of the Columbus Park that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Columbus Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Columbus Park ...

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

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

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Columbus Park 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 4,125 miles [6,638.5 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 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 Columbus Park 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 '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- Columbus Park) 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 Columbus Park 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 Columbus Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2556, Longitude: -71.8342       In this case, the coordinates for Columbus Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.455 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.093 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.972 degrees.