RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Franklin County >> Wapping >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wapping, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wapping and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Wapping:
    • 42.525087, -72.607867
    • 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 Wapping
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Wapping is near Hampshire County and also Windham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham 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 Wapping

Communities Also Named Wapping ...

We found two communities that are also named Wapping.

Within Massachusetts, the name Wapping is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Hartford County
      • This Wapping is located in Hartford County and lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the south of the Wapping that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of Wapping.
    • Virginia
      • Warren 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 Virginia community of Wapping [Warren County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wapping ...

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.

  • Baptist Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Baptist Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Corner
  • Cheapside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cheapside is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheapside
  • Factory Hollow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Factory Hollow is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Hollow
  • Factory Village ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Factory Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Factory Village
  • Gill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,473 people
  • Greenfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,241 people
  • Locks Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
  • Roaring Brook Camp
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Roaring Brook Camp is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Brook Camp
  • Shirkshire
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Shirkshire is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirkshire
  • Whately
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Whately is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whately
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,583 people

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

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

  • Greenfield, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the North.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 79 miles [127.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Wapping to Boston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 341 miles [548.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,562 miles [8,951.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,273 miles [10,095.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,149 miles [6,677.2 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 from Point A (ie- Wapping) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Wapping 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 Wapping 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 Wapping. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5251, Longitude: -72.6079       In this case, the coordinates for Wapping have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.884 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.621 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.189 degrees.