RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Middlesex County >> Old City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old City 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 Old City:
    • 42.637589, -71.729517
    • 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 Old City
  • 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 Middlesex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Since Old City is near Worcester County and also Hillsborough County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hillsborough 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 Old City

Communities Also Named Old City ...

We found four communities that are also named Old City.

Within Massachusetts, the name Old City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Piscataquis County
      • This Old City is located in Piscataquis County and lies 272 miles [437.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Old City that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Piscataquis County community of Old City.
    • New York
      • Herkimer County
      • This Old City is located in Herkimer County and lies 168 miles [270.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Old City that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Herkimer County community of Old City.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia County
      • This Old City is located in Philadelphia County and lies 256 miles [412 km]<1> to the southwest of the Old City that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Old City.
    • Vermont
      • Orange County
      • This Old City is located in Orange County and lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Old City that is located in Middlesex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Old City.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old City ...

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.

  • Bank
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bank is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bank
  • Four Corners
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Four Corners is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Gates Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Gates Crossing is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates Crossing
  • Greenville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenville is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,110 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <2>
  • Harvard Station
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Harvard Station is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Station
  • High Bridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • High Bridge is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bridge
  • Lane Village
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lane Village is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Village
  • Mason
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Mason is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <2>
  • Paper Mill Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Paper Mill Village is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
  • Rogersville ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Rogersville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
  • Shaker Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village

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

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

  • Cambridge, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Old City to Cambridge, 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.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 378 miles [608.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,521 miles [8,885.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,231 miles [10,027.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,106 miles [6,608 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Old City 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 Old City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6376, Longitude: -71.7295       In this case, the coordinates for Old City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.337 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.024 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.733 degrees.