Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plain and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plain
- 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 Plain:
- 42.483427, -71.371727
- 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 Plain
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- Since Plain is near Worcester County and also Norfolk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Worcester County
- eBird sighting report for Norfolk 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 Plain ...
We found eight communities that share the name Plain.
Within Massachusetts, the name Plain is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Stark County
- This Plain is located in Stark County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the west of the Plain that is located in Middlesex County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stark County community of Plain.
- Wayne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Plain [Wayne County].
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plain ...
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.
- Camp Ted
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Cedarwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Countryside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Countryside have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
- Countryside is located in Middlesex County
- Forge Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forge Village
- Forge Village is located in Middlesex County
- Fox Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Graniteville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graniteville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Graniteville is located in Middlesex County
- Havenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havenville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenville
- Havenville is located in Middlesex County
- Kelly Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kelly Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Corner
- Kelly Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Lakeview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Lincoln
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Littleton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Littleton Common
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton Common
- Littleton Common is located in Middlesex County
- Continue List (10 more) ...
- Nutting Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutting Lake
- Nutting Lake is located in Middlesex County
- Piety Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piety Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piety Corner
- Piety Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Pine Rest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Shaker Glen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Glen
- Shaker Glen is located in Middlesex County
- Shaker Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Shaker Village is located in Worcester County
- Shakerhill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shakerhill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakerhill
- Shakerhill is located in Middlesex County
- Silver Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hill
- Silver Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Tower Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Hill
- Tower Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Willows
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Woods Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Corner
- Woods Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Nutting Lake
How Far From Plain 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 Plain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Plain and extending to:
- Cambridge, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Plain to Cambridge, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 386 miles [621.2 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 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,512 miles [8,870.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,220 miles [10,010.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,096 miles [6,591.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4834, Longitude: -71.3717 In this case, the coordinates for Plain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Plain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Plain 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. |
| <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> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Plain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.144 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.782 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.648 degrees. |