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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Tatnuck, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Tatnuck 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 Tatnuck:
    • 42.282037, -71.871739
    • 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 Tatnuck
  • 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since West Tatnuck is near Middlesex County and also Windham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham 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 Tatnuck

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Tatnuck ...

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.

  • Burncoat
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Burncoat is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burncoat
  • Cherry Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cherry Valley is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
  • Greenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Greenville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Heard Street
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Heard Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Street
  • Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Island is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
  • Jamesville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jamesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
  • June Street
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • June Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for June Street
  • Lakeview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lakeview is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Lambs Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lambs Grove is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Grove
  • Rice Square
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rice Square is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Square
  • Salisbury Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Salisbury Heights is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Heights
  • Sandy Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandy Beach is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Union Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Union Hill is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Unionville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Unionville is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • University Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • University Park is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
    • Woodland Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodland Park is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

How Far From West Tatnuck 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 Tatnuck 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 Tatnuck and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 41 miles [66 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from West Tatnuck to Boston, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 357 miles [574.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,541 miles [8,917.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,249 miles [10,056.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,125 miles [6,638.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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 Tatnuck) 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 Tatnuck 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 Tatnuck. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2820, Longitude: -71.8717       In this case, the coordinates for West Tatnuck have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.474 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.119 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.976 degrees.