RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Norfolk County >> Summer Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Summer Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Summer Heights 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 Summer Heights:
    • 42.179266, -71.146718
    • 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 Summer Heights
  • 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 Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
    • Since Summer Heights is near Suffolk County and also Plymouth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth 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 Summer Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Summer Heights ...

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.

  • Braintree
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Braintree is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braintree
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 37,074 people
  • Cedar
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
  • Cedar Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cedar Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Dover
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Dover is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
  • Farm Street Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Farm Street Station is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Street Station
  • Five Corners
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Corners is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
  • Four Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Four Corners is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Greenlodge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Greenlodge is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlodge
  • Highland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Highland is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Milton Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Milton Center is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Center
  • Mount Hope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Mount Hope is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Plimptonville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Plimptonville is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plimptonville
    • Randolph
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Randolph is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Estimated population in 2019: 34,362 people
    • Readville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Readville is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Readville
    • Winters Corner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Winters Corner is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters Corner

How Far From Summer Heights 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 Summer Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Summer Heights to Boston, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 383 miles [616.4 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 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,514 miles [8,873.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,221 miles [10,011.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,097 miles [6,593.5 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Summer Heights) 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 Summer Heights 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 Summer Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1793, Longitude: -71.1467       In this case, the coordinates for Summer Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.054 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.63 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.702 degrees.