RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Essex County >> West Andover >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Andover, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Andover 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 West Andover:
    • 42.661203, -71.158391
    • 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 West Andover
  • 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 Essex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex County
    • Since West Andover is near Dukes County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dukes County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 West Andover

Communities Also Named West Andover ...

We found two communities that are also named West Andover.

Within Massachusetts, the name West Andover is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Hampshire
      • Merrimack County
      • This West Andover is located in Merrimack County and lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the West Andover that is located in Essex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Merrimack County community of West Andover.
    • Ohio
      • Ashtabula County
      • This West Andover is located in Ashtabula County and lies 489 miles [787 km]<1> to the west of the West Andover that is located in Essex County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashtabula County community of West Andover.

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Andover ...

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.

  • Centralville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Centralville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralville
  • Fox Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Fox Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Georgetown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Georgetown is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,789 people
  • Groveland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Groveland is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,868 people
  • Highlandville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Highlandville is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highlandville
  • Kings Forest
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Kings Forest is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Forest
  • Kinsman Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Kinsman Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinsman Corner
  • Long Pond Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Long Pond Park is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Pond Park
  • Lynnfield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynnfield is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnfield
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,040 people
  • Maple Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Maple Park is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Park
  • Marble Ridge Station
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Marble Ridge Station is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Ridge Station
  • Marsh Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Marsh Corner is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Corner
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Middlesex Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Middlesex Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex Village
    • Nutting Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Nutting Lake is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutting Lake
    • Reading
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Reading is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,535 people
    • Reading Highlands
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Reading Highlands is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading Highlands
    • Rooty Plain
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Rooty Plain is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rooty Plain
    • Silver Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Silver Lake is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake

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

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

  • Salem, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Andover to Salem, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 21 miles [33.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 402 miles [647 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 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,496 miles [8,845 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
  • 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).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,081 miles [6,567.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Andover) 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 West Andover 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 West Andover. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6612, Longitude: -71.1584       In this case, the coordinates for West Andover have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.989 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.637 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.461 degrees.