Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Norfolk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Norfolk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Norfolk
- 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 Norfolk:
- 42.119734, -71.325120
- 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 Norfolk
- 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 Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
- Since Norfolk is near Middlesex County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Norfolk ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Norfolk.
Within Massachusetts, the name Norfolk is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Norfolk ...
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.
- Benjamins Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benjamins Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamins Landing
- Benjamins Landing is located in Norfolk County
- Caryville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Cedar
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Cedar Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Cedar Hill is located in Norfolk County
- Farm Street Station
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farm Street Station have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Street Station
- Farm Street Station is located in Norfolk County
- Franklin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Norfolk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34,711 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Franklin
- From Norfolk to Franklin
- Plimptonville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plimptonville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plimptonville
- Plimptonville is located in Norfolk County
- Pondville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pondville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
- Pondville is located in Norfolk County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pondville
- From Norfolk to Pondville
- Rockville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rockville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Rockville is located in Norfolk County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Rockville
- From Norfolk to Rockville
- Unionville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Norfolk County
How Far From Norfolk 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 Norfolk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Norfolk and extending to:
- Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Norfolk to Dedham, with an average speed<6> 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 21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 373 miles [600.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,524 miles [8,890 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,231 miles [10,027.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,107 miles [6,609.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Norfolk: www.virtualnorfolk.org/
The official website for Norfolk County: www.norfolkcounty.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 'straight-line' (or 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- Norfolk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Norfolk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1197, Longitude: -71.3251 |
| <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 Norfolk 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> | 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 Norfolk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Norfolk to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.17 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.749 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.812 degrees. |