Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Plum Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plum Island and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Plum Island
- 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 Plum Island:
- 42.812592, -70.813384
- 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 Plum Island
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Essex County
- Since Plum Island is near Rockingham County and also Dukes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
- eBird sighting report for Dukes 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 Plum Island ...
We found one communities that share the name Plum Island.
Within Massachusetts, the name Plum Island is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named Plum Island in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New York
- Suffolk County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Plum Island [Suffolk County].
- New York
Curious and Interesting Names Near Plum Island ...
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.
- Joppa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Knights Crossing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knights Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Crossing
- Knights Crossing is located in Essex County
- Pine Island
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
- Pine Island is located in Essex County
- Plumbush
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Rings Island
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rings Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rings Island
- Rings Island is located in Essex County
- Salisbury
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Salisbury Beach
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Beach
- Salisbury Beach is located in Essex County
- Salisbury Plains
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Plains have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Plains
- Salisbury Plains is located in Essex County
- Salisbury Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Point
- Salisbury Point is located in Essex County
How Far From Plum Island 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 Plum Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Plum Island and extending to:
- Salem, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Plum Island to Salem, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 33 miles [53.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 422 miles [679.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,476 miles [8,812.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,060 miles [6,533.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plum Island. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Plum Island 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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- Plum Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plum Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8126, Longitude: -70.8134 In this case, the coordinates for Plum Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Plum Island to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.758 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.403 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.225 degrees. |