Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Southwick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southwick and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Southwick
- 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 Southwick:
- 42.054817, -72.770372
- 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 Southwick
- 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 Hampden County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hampden County
- Since Southwick is near Hartford County and also Litchfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hartford County
- eBird sighting report for Litchfield 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 Southwick ...
We found four communities that share the name Southwick.
Within Massachusetts, the name Southwick is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Southwick ...
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.
- Feeding Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Feeding Hills
- Feeding Hills is located in Hampden County
- Five Points
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Hungary
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Little River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Little River is located in Hampden County
- Meadowgate
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowgate have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowgate
- Meadowgate is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Mechanicsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Mechanicsville is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Rising Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Corner
- Rising Corner is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Salmon Brook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon Brook
- Salmon Brook is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Trainfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trainfield
- Trainfield is located in Hampden County
- Windmill Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windmill Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windmill Springs
- Windmill Springs is located in Hartford County (CT)
How Far From Southwick to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Southwick to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Southwick and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the Seat of Hampden County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southwick to Springfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 312 miles [502.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,588 miles [8,993 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,297 miles [10,134 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,173 miles [6,715.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Southwick: www.southwickma.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 Southwick 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> | 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- Southwick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Southwick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0548, Longitude: -72.7704 In this case, the coordinates for Southwick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Southwick 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 305.045 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.724 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.492 degrees. |