RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Worcester County >> Royalston >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Royalston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Royalston 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 Royalston:
    • 42.676206, -72.187459
    • 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 Royalston
  • 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since Royalston is near Franklin County and also Cheshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cheshire 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 Royalston

Curious and Interesting Names Near Royalston ...

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.

  • Baptist Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Baptist Corners is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Corners
  • Blissville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Blissville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blissville
  • Eaglesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Eaglesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglesville
  • Glenallen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Glenallen is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenallen
  • Jones Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones Corner is located in Cheshire County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Corner
  • Mayo Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Orange
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Otter River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Otter River is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter River
  • Rockwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Rockwood is located in Cheshire County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
  • Scotland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Scotland is located in Cheshire County (NH)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland

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

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Royalston to Worcester, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 61 miles [98.2 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 about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 363 miles [584.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,539 miles [8,914.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,249 miles [10,056.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,125 miles [6,638.5 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Royalston) 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 Royalston 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 Royalston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6762, Longitude: -72.1875    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.609 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.336 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.922 degrees.