RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Barnstable County >> The Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Springs 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 The Springs:
    • 41.747329, -70.478638
    • 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 The Springs
  • 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 Barnstable County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barnstable County
    • Since The Springs is near Plymouth County and also Dukes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth 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 The Springs

Communities Also Named The Springs ...

We found nine communities that are also named The Springs.

Within Massachusetts, the name The Springs is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Humboldt County
      • This The Springs is located in Humboldt County and lies 2,734 miles [4,399.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of The Springs.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This The Springs is located in Hillsborough County and lies 1,160 miles [1,866.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of The Springs.
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This The Springs is located in Clayton County and lies 946 miles [1,522.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of The Springs.
    • Kansas
      • Brown County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of The Springs [Brown County].
      • Labette County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of The Springs [Labette County].
    • New York
      • Saratoga County
      • This The Springs is located in Saratoga County and lies 192 miles [309 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saratoga County community of The Springs.
      • Suffolk County
      • This The Springs is located in Suffolk County and lies 100 miles [160.9 km] to the west southwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of The Springs.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • This The Springs is located in Somerset County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the The Springs that is located in Barnstable County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of The Springs.
    • South Dakota
      • Potter County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of The Springs [Potter County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Springs ...

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.

  • Buzzards Bay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Buzzards Bay is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzards Bay
  • Cedarville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
  • Cedarville Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville Landing is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville Landing
  • Farmersville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Farmersville is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersville
  • Forestdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Forestdale is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
  • Gray Gables
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gray Gables is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Gables
  • Halfway Pond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Halfway Pond is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Pond
  • Indian Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Indian Heights is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Heights
  • Mashpee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Mashpee is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashpee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,266 people
  • Monument Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Monument Beach is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Beach
  • Plowed Neck
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Plowed Neck is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plowed Neck
  • Pondsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pondsville is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondsville
  • Pondville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pondville is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
  • Sandwich
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Sandwich is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandwich
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,151 people

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

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

  • Barnstable, which is the Seat of Barnstable County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from The Springs to Barnstable, with an average speed<3> 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 51 miles [82.1 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 397 miles [638.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,502 miles [8,854.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,205 miles [9,986 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,083 miles [6,571 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 The Springs 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.
<3>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.
<4>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 The Springs 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 The Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7473, Longitude: -70.4786       In this case, the coordinates for The Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.722 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.183 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.628 degrees.