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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Provincetown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Provincetown 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 Provincetown:
    • 42.058436, -70.178637
    • 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 Provincetown
  • 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 Barnstable County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • eBird sighting report for Barnstable County
    • Since Provincetown is near Plymouth County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • eBird sighting report for Plymouth 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 Provincetown ...

We found one communities that share the name Provincetown.

Within Massachusetts, the name Provincetown is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named Provincetown in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Cook 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 Illinois community of Provincetown [Cook County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Provincetown ...

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.

  • Campground Landing
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campground Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campground Landing
    • Campground Landing is located in Barnstable County
  • First Encounter Beach
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for First Encounter Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Encounter Beach
    • First Encounter Beach is located in Barnstable County
  • Fresh Brook
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fresh Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresh Brook
    • Fresh Brook is located in Barnstable County
  • Mayflower Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayflower Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Heights
    • Mayflower Heights is located in Barnstable County
  • Mayo Beach
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayo Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Beach
    • Mayo Beach is located in Barnstable County
  • Pilgrim Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilgrim Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Heights
    • Pilgrim Heights is located in Barnstable County
  • Pond Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pond Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Village
    • Pond Village is located in Barnstable County
  • Sunken Meadow Beach
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunken Meadow Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunken Meadow Beach
    • Sunken Meadow Beach is located in Barnstable County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Provincetown and extending to:

  • Barnstable, which is the Seat of Barnstable County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Provincetown to Barnstable, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days 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 49 miles [78.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 420 miles [675.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 5,478 miles [8,816 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 6,181 miles [9,947.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,059 miles [6,532.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>

The official website for Provincetown: www.provincetowngov.org/

The official website for Barnstable County: www.barnstablecounty.org/

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 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 Provincetown 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Provincetown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Provincetown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0584, Longitude: -70.1786       In this case, the coordinates for Provincetown 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 Provincetown 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 303.497 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 298.982 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.334 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024