Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Spring Hill (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Spring Hill. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Spring Hill is located in Middlesex County .
To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries .
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Middlesex County : Essex , Norfolk , Suffolk , Worcester & Hillsborough (NH) .
Below are the counties that are near Spring Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spring Hill:
Middlesex County (The home county of Spring Hill)
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Somerville (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Somerville is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville Population from the 2020 Census: 80,935 people
Wellington (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Wellington is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington Cambridge (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Cambridge is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Population from the 2020 Census: 119,192 people
Huron Village (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Huron Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Village Medford (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Medford is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford Population from the 2020 Census: 60,847 people
Edgeworth (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth Arlington (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Arlington is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington Population from the 2020 Census: 45,169 people
West Medford (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
West Medford is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Medford Cambridgeport (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport Everett (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Everett is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everett Population from the 2020 Census: 46,107 people
Malden (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Malden is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malden Population from the 2020 Census: 59,922 people
Belmont (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Belmont is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont Population from the 2020 Census: 25,873 people
Watertown (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Watertown is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown Estimated population in 2015: 34,319 people
Bristol County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
North Easton (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
North Easton is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton South Easton (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
South Easton is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton Easton Center (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Easton Center is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton Center Easton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Easton is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
East Mansfield (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
East Mansfield is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Mansfield Furnace Village (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Furnace Village is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village Mansfield (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Mansfield is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield Population from the 2020 Census: 24,539 people
Norton (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Norton is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton Population from the 2020 Census: 19,983 people
Attleboro Falls (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Attleboro Falls is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro Falls Chartley (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Chartley is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartley North Attleboro (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
North Attleboro is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
Raynham (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Raynham is located in Bristol County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raynham Population from the 2020 Census: 14,560 people
Essex County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Cliftondale (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Cliftondale is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliftondale Pleasant Hills (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills Saugus (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Saugus is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saugus Population from the 2020 Census: 28,542 people
West Lynn (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
West Lynn is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lynn Lynn (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Lynn is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Population from the 2020 Census: 94,539 people
Nahant (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Nahant is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nahant Population from the 2020 Census: 3,506 people
Lynnfield (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Lynnfield is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnfield Population from the 2020 Census: 13,040 people
East Lynn (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
East Lynn is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lynn Swampscott (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Swampscott is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swampscott Population from the 2020 Census: 15,462 people
West Peabody (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
West Peabody is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Peabody Clifton (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Clifton is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Peabody (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Peabody is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peabody Population from the 2020 Census: 53,063 people
Brigadoon Village (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Brigadoon Village is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigadoon Village Norfolk County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Brookline Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village Brookline (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Brookline is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Population from the 2020 Census: 59,022 people
Westbrook Village (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village Milton Village (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Milton Village is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Village Montclair (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
Montclair is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair East Milton (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
East Milton is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Milton Milton (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Milton is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Population from the 2020 Census: 27,537 people
Norfolk Downs (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
Norfolk Downs is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfolk Downs Babson Park (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Babson Park is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park Needham Heights (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights Needham (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Needham is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
Wellesley Farms (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms Wellesley (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Wellesley is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Population from the 2020 Census: 28,684 people
Plymouth County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Hull (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Hull is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull Population from the 2020 Census: 10,484 people
Bayside (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Bayside is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside Kenberma (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Kenberma is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma West Hingham (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
West Hingham is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham Hingham (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Hingham is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hingham Population from the 2020 Census: 24,720 people
Accord (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Accord is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Accord Montello (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
Montello is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montello North Abington (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
North Abington is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Abington Minot (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
Minot is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot North Scituate (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
North Scituate is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate Rockland (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
Rockland is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
Brockton (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
Brockton is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockton Population from the 2020 Census: 95,770 people
Abington (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Abington is located in Plymouth County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abington Population from the 2020 Census: 16,752 people
Suffolk County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Charlestown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Charlestown is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlestown Allston (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Allston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allston Chelsea (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Chelsea is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea Population from the 2020 Census: 39,230 people
East Boston (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
East Boston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Boston Bay Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Bay Village is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Village Boston (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Boston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Population from the 2020 Census: 691,531 people
Brighton (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Brighton is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton South Boston (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
South Boston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Boston Revere (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Revere is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Revere Population from the 2020 Census: 52,375 people
Jamaica Plain (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Jamaica Plain is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamaica Plain Roxbury (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Roxbury is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury Savin Hill (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Savin Hill is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savin Hill Dorchester (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Dorchester is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester Worcester County
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Fayville (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
Fayville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayville Southborough (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
Southborough is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southborough Population from the 2020 Census: 10,200 people
Cordaville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Cordaville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordaville Southville (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
Southville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southville Shaker Village (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Shaker Village is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village Bolton (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Bolton is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton Population from the 2020 Census: 5,476 people
Harvard (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Harvard is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Population from the 2020 Census: 6,618 people
Berlin (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Berlin is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin Population from the 2020 Census: 3,731 people
Chapinville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Chapinville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapinville South Berlin (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
South Berlin is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Berlin Still River (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Still River is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still River Westborough (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Westborough is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westborough Population from the 2020 Census: 19,063 people
Carterville (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Carterville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carterville Hillsborough County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Pelham (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Pelham is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham Population from the 2020 Census: 14,306 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <1>
Hudson (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Hudson is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson Population from the 2020 Census: 25,620 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <1>
Rockingham County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Salem (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Salem is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Population from the 2020 Census: 30,641 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salem <1>
Wilson Corners (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Wilson Corners is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Corners Plaistow (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Westville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Westville is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville Windham (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Windham is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham Population from the 2020 Census: 14,865 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windham <1>
Providence County (RI)
Burnt Swamp Corner (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Burnt Swamp Corner is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Swamp Corner
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spring Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Spring Hill .
Cemeteries Near Spring Hill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Hill.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know . If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Spring Hill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spring Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Somerville Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Somerville Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Cambridge Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Cemetery The Cambridge Cemetery has also been known as:
City of Cambridge Cemetery Burial Hill Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Old Burying Ground (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Veterans Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
St. Pauls Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
North Cambridge Catholic Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Belmont Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Mt. Auburn Catholic Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Mt. Auburn Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Auburn Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Auburn Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Cambridge . The Mt. Auburn Cemetery has also been known as:
Sandbanks Cemetery Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #CAM.801 <2>
Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91241 <3>
Phipps Street Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Continue List (614 more) ...
Bunker Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Bell Rock Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Salem Street Burying Ground (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>
While we didn't find Spring Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spring Hill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Spring Hill, with the one closest to Spring Hill listed first.
Somerville (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Somerville is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville Population from the 2020 Census: 80,935 people
Winter Hill (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Winter Hill is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Hill West Somerville (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
West Somerville is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Somerville Cambridge (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Cambridge is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Population from the 2020 Census: 119,192 people
Medford Hillside (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Medford Hillside is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford Hillside Wellington (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Wellington is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington North Cambridge (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
North Cambridge is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cambridge East Watertown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
East Watertown is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Watertown Allston (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Allston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allston Cambridgeport (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport East Cambridge (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
East Cambridge is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cambridge Charlestown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Charlestown is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlestown Continue List (20 more) ...
West Medford (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
West Medford is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Medford West Everett (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
West Everett is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Everett Edgeworth (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spring Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spring Hill .
Newspapers Published in Spring Hill ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) .
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Hill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Hill, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> Extended Newspaper List for Spring Hill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Spring Hill:
Websites specific to Massachusetts Pages specific to Middlesex County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bristol County Essex County Norfolk County Plymouth County Suffolk County Worcester County Hillsborough County Rockingham County Providence County Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spring Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System ). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net . The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com . We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Spring Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Spring Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.