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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hanson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hanson 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 Hanson:
    • 42.075372, -70.880031
    • 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 Hanson
  • 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 Plymouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
    • Since Hanson is near Norfolk County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bristol 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 Hanson

Communities Also Named Hanson ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Hanson.

Within Massachusetts, the name Hanson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cherokee County
      • This Hanson is located in Cherokee County and lies 961 miles [1,546.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Hanson.
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in San Bernardino County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Hanson.
    • Florida
      • Madison County
      • This Hanson is located in Madison County and lies 1,054 miles [1,696.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Hanson.
    • Illinois
      • Shelby County
      • This Hanson is located in Shelby County and lies 973 miles [1,565.9 km]<1> to the west of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Hanson.
    • Kansas
      • Pottawatomie County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Hanson [Pottawatomie County].
    • Kentucky
      • Hopkins County
      • This Hanson is located in Hopkins County and lies 936 miles [1,506.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hopkins County community of Hanson.
    • Michigan
      • Crawford County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Hanson [Crawford County].
    • Minnesota
      • Olmsted County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Hanson [Olmsted County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Sequoyah County
      • This Hanson is located in Sequoyah County and lies 1,356 miles [2,182.3 km]<1> to the west of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sequoyah County community of Hanson.
    • Texas
      • Fort Bend County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Hanson [Fort Bend County].
      • Shelby 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 Texas community of Hanson [Shelby County].
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Hanson is located in Salt Lake County and lies 2,106 miles [3,389.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Hanson.
    • Washington
      • Grant County
      • This Hanson is located in Grant County and lies 2,347 miles [3,777.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hanson that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Hanson.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hanson ...

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.

  • Beaver
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Beaver is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
  • Breezy Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Breezy Hill is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breezy Hill
  • Brimstone Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Brimstone Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimstone Corner
  • Curtisville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Curtisville is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
  • Fireworks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fireworks is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fireworks
  • Golden Ring Camp
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Golden Ring Camp is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Ring Camp
  • Gurneys Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Gurneys Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurneys Corner
  • Manns Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Manns Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manns Corner
  • Mayflower Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mayflower Grove is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Grove
  • Rockland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
  • Town Hall
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Town Hall is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Hall

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

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

  • Plymouth, which is the Seat of Plymouth County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hanson to Plymouth, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 21 miles [33.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 390 miles [627.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,507 miles [8,862.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,212 miles [9,997.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,089 miles [6,580.6 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hanson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Hanson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Hanson 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.
<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 Hanson 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 Hanson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0754, Longitude: -70.8800    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.911 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.451 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.637 degrees.