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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dana and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Dana:
    • 42.433170, -72.260315
    • 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 Dana
  • 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 Dana is near Franklin County and also Hampshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire 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 Dana

Communities Also Named Dana ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Dana.

Within Massachusetts, the name Dana is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of fourteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This Dana is located in Shasta County and lies 2,504 miles [4,029.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Dana.
    • Florida
      • Union County
      • This Dana is located in Union County and lies 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Dana.
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Dana is located in La Salle County and lies 865 miles [1,392.1 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Dana.
    • Indiana
      • Vermillion County
      • This Dana is located in Vermillion County and lies 811 miles [1,305.2 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermillion County community of Dana.
    • Iowa
      • Greene County
      • This Dana is located in Greene County and lies 1,120 miles [1,802.5 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Dana.
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Dana is located in Floyd County and lies 645 miles [1,038 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Dana.
    • Michigan
      • Ingham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Dana [Ingham County].
      • Montmorency County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Dana [Montmorency County].
    • Missouri
      • Bates County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Bates County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bates County community of Dana.
    • North Carolina
      • Henderson County
      • This Dana is located in Henderson County and lies 731 miles [1,176.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Dana.
    • North Dakota
      • Emmons County
      • This Dana is located in Emmons County and lies 1,399 miles [2,251.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Emmons County community of Dana.
    • Ontario
      • This Dana lies 723 miles [1,163.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Dana lies 1,686 miles [2,713.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
    • Wyoming
      • Carbon County
      • This Dana is located in Carbon County and lies 1,751 miles [2,818 km]<1> to the west of the Dana that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carbon County community of Dana.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dana ...

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.

  • Baconville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Baconville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baconville
  • Dana Center
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dana Center is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana Center
  • Eaglesville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Eaglesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglesville
  • Furnace
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Furnace is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
  • Gilbertville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Greenwich ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Knights Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Knights Corner is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Corner
  • Locks Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
  • Meads Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Meads Corner is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meads Corner
  • Orange
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Packardville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Packardville is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packardville
  • Pratt Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Pratt Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corner

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Dana once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Dana and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dana to Worcester, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 61 miles [98.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 349 miles [561.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,551 miles [8,933.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,261 miles [10,076.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,137 miles [6,657.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Dana 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Dana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Dana 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 Dana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4332, Longitude: -72.2603       In this case, the coordinates for Dana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.687 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.383 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.076 degrees.