RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Boylston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Boylston 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 Boylston:
    • 42.366759, -71.785627
    • 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 West Boylston
  • 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 West Boylston ...

We found one communities that share the name West Boylston.

Within Massachusetts, the name West Boylston is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named West Boylston in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Montgomery County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of West Boylston [Montgomery County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Boylston ...

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.

  • Berlin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berlin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
    • Berlin is located in Worcester County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,731 people
  • Burncoat
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burncoat have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burncoat
    • Burncoat is located in Worcester County
  • Carterville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carterville
    • Carterville is located in Worcester County
  • Duck Harbor ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duck Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Harbor
    • Duck Harbor is located in Worcester County
  • Fairlawn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairlawn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
    • Fairlawn is located in Worcester County
  • Fullerville ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fullerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullerville
    • Fullerville is located in Worcester County
  • June Street
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for June Street have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for June Street
    • June Street is located in Worcester County
  • Lakeview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Lakeview is located in Worcester County
  • Pratts Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratts Junction
    • Pratts Junction is located in Worcester County
  • Ruralville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruralville
    • Ruralville is located in Worcester County
  • Salisbury Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Heights
    • Salisbury Heights is located in Worcester County
  • Union Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Union Hill is located in Worcester County
  • Unionville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Unionville is located in Worcester County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Boylston and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the South.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from West Boylston to Boston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 364 miles [585.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,534 miles [8,906.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,242 miles [10,045.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,118 miles [6,627.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>

The official website for West Boylston: www.westboylston.com/

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 West Boylston 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.
<2>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.
<3>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- West Boylston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Boylston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3668, Longitude: -71.7856       In this case, the coordinates for West Boylston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 West Boylston 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 304.41 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.061 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.895 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024