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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Newbury, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Newbury 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 Newbury:
    • 42.779258, -70.882830
    • 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 Newbury
  • 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 Essex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex County
    • Since Newbury is near Rockingham County and also Dukes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dukes 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 Newbury

Communities Also Named Newbury ...

We found seven communities that are also named Newbury.

Within Massachusetts, the name Newbury is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Clay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Newbury [Clay County].
    • Kansas
      • Wabaunsee County
      • This Newbury is located in Wabaunsee County and lies 1,338 miles [2,153.3 km]<2> to the west of the Newbury that is located in Essex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wabaunsee County community of Newbury.
    • New Hampshire
      • Merrimack County
      • This Newbury is located in Merrimack County and lies 69 miles [111 km]<2> to the northwest of the Newbury that is located in Essex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Merrimack County community of Newbury.
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Athens County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Newbury.
      • Geauga County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Newbury [Geauga County].
    • Ontario
      • This Newbury lies 553 miles [890 km]<2> to the west of the Newbury that is located in Essex County.
    • Vermont
      • Orange County
      • This Newbury is located in Orange County and lies 107 miles [172.2 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Newbury that is located in Essex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Newbury.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Newbury ...

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.

  • Doles Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Doles Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doles Corner
  • Joppa
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Joppa is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
  • Kent Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Kent Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Corner
  • Knights Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Knights Crossing is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Crossing
  • Pine Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pine Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
  • Plum Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Plum Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Island
  • Plumbush
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Plumbush is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumbush
  • Rings Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rings Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rings Island
  • Salisbury
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Salisbury is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
  • Salisbury Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Salisbury Beach is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Beach
  • Salisbury Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Salisbury Point is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Point

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

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

  • Salem, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Newbury to Salem, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 30 miles [48.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 418 miles [672.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, 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 5,480 miles [8,819.2 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 6,188 miles [9,958.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,064 miles [6,540.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Newbury 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Newbury) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Newbury, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Newbury 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 Newbury. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7793, Longitude: -70.8828       In this case, the coordinates for Newbury have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.805 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.45 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.274 degrees.