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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Falmouth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Falmouth 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 Falmouth:
    • 41.604274, -70.634475
    • 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 Falmouth
  • 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 Barnstable County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barnstable County
    • Since West Falmouth is near Plymouth County and also Dukes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dukes 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 Falmouth

Communities Also Named West Falmouth ...

We found one communities that are also named West Falmouth.

Within Massachusetts, the name West Falmouth is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Cumberland County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maine community of West Falmouth [Cumberland County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Falmouth ...

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.

  • Alms House
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Alms House is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alms House
  • Crescent Beach
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Crescent Beach is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
  • Gray Gables
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gray Gables is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Gables
  • Harbor Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Harbor Beach is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Beach
  • Hatchville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hatchville is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchville
  • Holly Woods
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Woods is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Woods
  • Kingdom Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Kingdom Hall is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingdom Hall
  • Mashpee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Mashpee is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashpee
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,266 people
  • Mashpee Neck
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Mashpee Neck is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashpee Neck
  • Monument Beach
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Monument Beach is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Beach
  • Pine Tree Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pine Tree Corner is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Tree Corner
  • Piney Point Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Piney Point Beach is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Point Beach
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rock Landing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Rock Landing is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Landing
    • Silver Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Silver Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Smalltown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Smalltown is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smalltown
    • Teaticket
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
    • Woods Hole
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Woods Hole is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Hole

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in West Falmouth and extending to:

  • Barnstable, which is the Seat of Barnstable County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Falmouth to Barnstable, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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 56 miles [90.1 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 385 miles [619.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,515 miles [8,875.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,095 miles [6,590.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about West Falmouth, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 Falmouth) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 West Falmouth 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 Falmouth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6043, Longitude: -70.6345       In this case, the coordinates for West Falmouth have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.836 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.287 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.769 degrees.