RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Worcester County >> Oakland Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oakland Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakland Heights 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 Oakland Heights:
    • 42.225094, -71.780071
    • 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 Oakland Heights
  • 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since Oakland Heights is near Middlesex County and also Windham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham 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 Oakland Heights

Communities Also Named Oakland Heights ...

We found ten communities that are also named Oakland Heights.

Within Massachusetts, the name Oakland Heights is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Jefferson County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,228 miles [1,976.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Oakland Heights.
      • Pope County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Oakland Heights [Pope County].
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Hillsborough County and lies 1,138 miles [1,831.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Oakland Heights.
    • Georgia
      • Bartow County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Bartow County and lies 895 miles [1,440.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bartow County community of Oakland Heights.
    • North Carolina
      • Davie County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Davie County and lies 646 miles [1,039.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davie County community of Oakland Heights.
      • Iredell County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Iredell County and lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km] to the southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iredell County community of Oakland Heights.
      • Rutherford County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Rutherford County and lies 723 miles [1,163.6 km] to the southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Oakland Heights.
    • South Carolina
      • Horry County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Horry County and lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Horry County community of Oakland Heights.
    • Tennessee
      • Montgomery County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Montgomery County and lies 920 miles [1,480.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Oakland Heights.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dane County
      • This Oakland Heights is located in Dane County and lies 895 miles [1,440.4 km]<1> to the west of the Oakland Heights that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dane County community of Oakland Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakland Heights ...

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.

  • Bramanville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Bramanville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramanville
  • Dorothy Pond
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dorothy Pond is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy Pond
  • Fairlawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairlawn is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Heard Street
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Heard Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Street
  • Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Island is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
  • Jamesville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jamesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Maplewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Maplewood is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Pinecrest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinecrest is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
  • Pondville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pondville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
  • Rice Square
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Rice Square is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Square
  • Union Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Union Hill is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • University Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • University Park is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
  • Woodland Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Woodland Park is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

How Far From Oakland Heights to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Oakland Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Oakland Heights to Boston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 358 miles [576.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,539 miles [8,914.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,123 miles [6,635.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oakland Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Oakland Heights 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>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.
<4>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 Oakland Heights 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 Oakland Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2251, Longitude: -71.7801       In this case, the coordinates for Oakland Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.427 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.056 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.963 degrees.