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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in South Athol, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Athol 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 South Athol:
    • 42.531477, -72.262028
    • 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 South Athol
  • 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 South Athol is near Franklin County and also Hampshire 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 Hampshire 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 South Athol

Communities Also Named South Athol ...

We found one communities that are also named South Athol.

Within Massachusetts, the name South Athol is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named South Athol in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nova Scotia
      • This South Athol lies 452 miles [727.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the South Athol that is located in Worcester County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Athol ...

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.

  • Baconville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Baconville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baconville
  • Baptist Corners
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Baptist Corners is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Corners
  • Blissville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Blissville is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blissville
  • Dana ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Dana is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
  • Dana Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Dana Center is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana Center
  • Eaglesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Eaglesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglesville
  • Locks Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
  • Mayo Corners
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Mayo Corners is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Corners
  • Orange
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Orange is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
  • Otter River
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Otter River is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter River
  • Partridgeville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Partridgeville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridgeville
  • Pitcherville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Pitcherville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitcherville
  • Sky Farm
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sky Farm is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Farm

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

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from South Athol to Worcester, with an average speed<2> 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 just over a day.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the east (E). 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 354 miles [569.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,548 miles [8,928.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,258 miles [10,071.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,133 miles [6,651.4 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 from Point A (ie- South Athol) 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 South Athol 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 South Athol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5315, Longitude: -72.2620       In this case, the coordinates for South Athol have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.674 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.386 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.028 degrees.