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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in South Byfield, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Byfield 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 Byfield:
    • 42.748703, -70.903664
    • 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 Byfield
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex County
    • Since South Byfield is near Rockingham County and also Dukes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for South Byfield

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Byfield ...

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.

  • Doles Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Doles Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doles Corner
  • Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Georgetown is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,789 people
  • Groveland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Groveland is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,868 people
  • Joppa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Joppa is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
  • Kent Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Kent Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Corner
  • Kings Forest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kings Forest is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Forest
  • Knights Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Knights Crossing is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Crossing
  • Little Neck
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Neck is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Neck
  • Pine Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
  • Plum Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Plum Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Island
  • Plumbush
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Plumbush is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumbush
  • Rings Island
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rings Island is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rings Island
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rocks Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rocks Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocks Village
    • Rooty Plain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rooty Plain is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rooty Plain
    • Salisbury
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Salisbury is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
    • Salisbury Point
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Salisbury Point is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Point

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

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

  • Salem, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from South Byfield to Salem, with an average speed<2> 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 416 miles [669.5 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 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,482 miles [8,822.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,190 miles [9,961.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,066 miles [6,543.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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 Byfield) 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 Byfield 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 Byfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7487, Longitude: -70.9037       In this case, the coordinates for South Byfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.822 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.465 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.299 degrees.