Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wellesley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wellesley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wellesley
- 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 Wellesley:
- 42.296486, -71.292557
- 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 Wellesley
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
- Since Wellesley is near Middlesex County and also Suffolk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- eBird sighting report for Suffolk 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 Wellesley ...
We found two communities that share the name Wellesley.
Within Massachusetts, the name Wellesley is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ontario
- This Wellesley lies 485 miles [780.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Wellesley that is located in Norfolk County.
- Virginia
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wellesley ...
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.
- Camp Mary Day
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camp Mary Day have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Mary Day
- Camp Mary Day is located in Middlesex County
- Camp Ted
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Cedarwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Chestnut Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
- Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Dover
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Farm Street Station
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farm Street Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Street Station
- Farm Street Station is located in Norfolk County
- Grantville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Grantville is located in Norfolk County
- Highland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Lakeview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Piety Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piety Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piety Corner
- Piety Corner is located in Middlesex County
- Reservoir
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Riverview
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Silver Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hill
- Silver Hill is located in Middlesex County
- Tower Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Hill
- Tower Hill is located in Middlesex County
How Far From Wellesley 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 Wellesley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wellesley and extending to:
- Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Wellesley to Boston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 381 miles [613.2 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,516 miles [8,877.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,223 miles [10,014.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,099 miles [6,596.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Wellesley: www.ci.wellesley.ma.us/
The official website for Norfolk County: www.norfolkcounty.org/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wellesley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wellesley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2965, Longitude: -71.2926 In this case, the coordinates for Wellesley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Wellesley 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> | 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 Wellesley 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 304.124 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.728 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.708 degrees. |