Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harwich, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harwich and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harwich
- 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 Harwich:
- 41.686222, -70.075851
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Harwich
- 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 Barnstable County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Barnstable County
- Since Harwich is near Nantucket County and also Plymouth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nantucket County
- eBird sighting report for Plymouth 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Harwich ...
We found two communities that share the name Harwich.
Within Massachusetts, the name Harwich is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harwich ...
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.
- Bass River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass River
- Bass River is located in Barnstable County
- Dennis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Dennis Port
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dennis Port have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Port
- Dennis Port is located in Barnstable County
- First Encounter Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for First Encounter Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Encounter Beach
- First Encounter Beach is located in Barnstable County
- Orleans
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Pleasant Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
- Pleasant Lake is located in Barnstable County
- Rock Harbor
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Harbor
- Rock Harbor is located in Barnstable County
- Shooters Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shooters Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shooters Island
- Shooters Island is located in Barnstable County
How Far From Harwich 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 Harwich to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Harwich and extending to:
- Barnstable, which is the Seat of Barnstable County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Harwich to Barnstable, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 68 miles [109.4 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 413 miles [664.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,488 miles [8,832.1 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 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,067 miles [6,545.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Harwich: www.town.harwich.ma.us/
The official website for Barnstable County: www.barnstablecounty.org/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harwich) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harwich. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6862, Longitude: -70.0759 In this case, the coordinates for Harwich have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Harwich 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Harwich to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.494 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 298.916 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.483 degrees. |