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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Dighton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Dighton 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 Dighton:
    • 41.830772, -71.160692
    • 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 Dighton
  • 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 Bristol County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bristol County
    • Since West Dighton is near Bristol County and also Plymouth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bristol 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 West Dighton

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Dighton ...

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.

  • Barneyville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Barneyville is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barneyville
  • Chestnut Tree Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Chestnut Tree Corner is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Tree Corner
  • Copper Works
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Copper Works is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Works
  • Cranes Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cranes Station is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranes Station
  • Fall River Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fall River Station is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River Station
  • Fighting Rock Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fighting Rock Corner is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fighting Rock Corner
  • Freetown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Harris
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Harris is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
  • Luther Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Luther Corner is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther Corner
  • Meadow Brook
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Meadow Brook is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
  • Mechanicsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Miles Bridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Miles Bridge is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Bridge
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Norton Furnace ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Norton Furnace is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton Furnace
    • Ocean Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Ocean Grove is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Grove
    • Perrys Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Perrys Corner is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrys Corner
    • Pottersville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Pottersville is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville
    • Prattville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Prattville is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattville
    • Slades Ferry
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Slades Ferry is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slades Ferry
    • Steep Brook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

How Far From West Dighton to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers 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 Dighton to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Taunton, which is the Seat of Bristol County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from West Dighton to Boston, with an average speed<2> 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 369 miles [593.8 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,528 miles [8,896.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,233 miles [10,031 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,110 miles [6,614.4 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Dighton) 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 Dighton 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 Dighton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8308, Longitude: -71.1607       In this case, the coordinates for West Dighton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.114 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.638 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.885 degrees.