RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Franklin County >> Mill River >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mill River, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mill River 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 Mill River:
    • 42.501476, -72.641201
    • 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 Mill River
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Mill River is near Hampshire County and also Hampden 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 Hampden 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 Mill River

Communities Also Named Mill River ...

We found one communities that are also named Mill River.

There is one other community in Massachusetts that is also named Mill River.

Beyond Massachusetts.

  • Communities Located In Massachusetts ...
    • Berkshire County
      • This Mill River is located in Berkshire County and lies 41 miles [66 km]<1> to the southwest of the Mill River that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkshire County community of Mill River.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mill River ...

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.

  • Baptist Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Baptist Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Corner
  • Cheapside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cheapside is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheapside
  • Factory Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Factory Hollow is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Hollow
  • Factory Village ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Factory Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Village
  • Greenfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,241 people
  • Laurel Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Laurel Park is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
  • Locks Village
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
  • Plainville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Plainville is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainville
  • Pratt Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Pratt Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corner
  • Roaring Brook Camp
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Roaring Brook Camp is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Brook Camp
  • Shirkshire
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shirkshire is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirkshire
  • Spruce Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Spruce Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Corner
  • Whately
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Whately is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whately
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,583 people

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

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

  • Greenfield, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Mill River to Boston, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 338 miles [544 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,565 miles [8,956 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,275 miles [10,098.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,151 miles [6,680.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mill River) 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 Mill River 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 Mill River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5015, Longitude: -72.6412       In this case, the coordinates for Mill River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.908 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.643 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.216 degrees.