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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oakland Vale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakland Vale 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 Vale:
    • 42.471762, -71.031440
    • 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 Vale
  • 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 Oakland Vale is near Middlesex County and also Suffolk 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 Suffolk 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 Vale

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakland Vale ...

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.

  • Crescent Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crescent Beach is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
  • Everett
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Everett is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,107 people
  • Farm Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Farm Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Hill
  • Fells
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Fells is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fells
  • Greenwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Greenwood is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Little Nahant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Nahant is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Nahant
  • Lynn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Lynn is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 94,539 people
  • Lynnfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lynnfield is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,040 people
  • Maplewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Maplewood is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Oak Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Grove is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Pleasant Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • Reading
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Reading is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,535 people
    • Reading Highlands
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Reading Highlands is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading Highlands
    • Walnut Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Wyoming
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Wyoming is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Oakland Vale and extending to:

  • Salem, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies just to the south (S).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 399 miles [642.1 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Oakland Vale to White House, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 23 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 16 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,498 miles [8,848.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,206 miles [9,987.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,082 miles [6,569.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oakland Vale) 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 Oakland Vale 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 Vale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4718, Longitude: -71.0314       In this case, the coordinates for Oakland Vale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.942 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.552 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.501 degrees.