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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Duckville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Duckville 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 Duckville:
    • 42.216760, -72.343971
    • 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 Duckville
  • 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 Duckville is near Hampshire County and also Worcester 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 Worcester 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 Duckville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Duckville ...

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.

  • Butlerville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Butlerville is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butlerville
  • Cold Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cold Spring is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Cooks Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cooks Corner is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Corner
  • Dwight
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dwight is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
  • Four Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Four Corners is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Freeman Knoll
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Freeman Knoll is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Knoll
  • Gilbertville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilbertville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
  • Greenwich
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Greenwich is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
  • Indian Orchard
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Indian Orchard is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Orchard
  • Knights Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Knights Corner is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Corner
  • Little Rest
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Rest is located in Hampden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rest
  • Marks Garrison
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Marks Garrison is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Garrison
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Meads Corner
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Meads Corner is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meads Corner
    • Packardville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Packardville is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packardville
    • Red Bridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Red Bridge is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bridge
    • Three Rivers
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Three Rivers is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers

How Far From Duckville to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Duckville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Hampden County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Duckville to Springfield, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 66 miles [106.2 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 336 miles [540.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,563 miles [8,952.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,272 miles [10,093.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,148 miles [6,675.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

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- Duckville) 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 Duckville 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 Duckville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2168, Longitude: -72.3440       In this case, the coordinates for Duckville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.767 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.438 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.221 degrees.