RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Suffolk County >> East Boston >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in East Boston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to East Boston 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 East Boston:
    • 42.370579, -71.035548
    • 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 East Boston
  • 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 Suffolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk County
    • Since East Boston is near Middlesex County and also Norfolk 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 Norfolk 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 East Boston

Communities Also Named East Boston ...

We found one communities that are also named East Boston.

Within Massachusetts, the name East Boston is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named East Boston in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Madison County
      • This East Boston is located in Madison County and lies 247 miles [397.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the East Boston that is located in Suffolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of East Boston.

Curious and Interesting Names Near East Boston ...

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.

  • Boston
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Cottage Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cottage Hill is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hill
  • Cottage Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cottage Park is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Park
  • Crescent Beach
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crescent Beach is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
  • Downtown Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Downtown Crossing is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downtown Crossing
  • Everett
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Fields Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fields Corner is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Corner
  • Fort Independence
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Independence is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Independence
  • Grove Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Grove Hall is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Hall
  • Longwood Station
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Longwood Station is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood Station
  • Maplewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Maplewood is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Meeting House Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Meeting House Hill is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeting House Hill
  • Oak Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Winter Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Winter Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Hill

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

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

  • Boston, which is the Seat of Suffolk County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies just to the west southwest (WSW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 395 miles [635.7 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from East Boston to White House, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 23 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,502 miles [8,854.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,209 miles [9,992.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,085 miles [6,574.2 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- East Boston) 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 East Boston 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 East Boston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3706, Longitude: -71.0355    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.959 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.555 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.555 degrees.