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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Upton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Upton 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 Upton:
    • 42.169890, -71.620966
    • 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 Upton
  • 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 Upton is near Middlesex County and also Norfolk 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 Norfolk 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 Upton

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Upton ...

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.

  • Braggville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Braggville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braggville
  • Bramanville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bramanville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramanville
  • Camp Bob White
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Camp Bob White is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Bob White
  • Centerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Centerville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Dorothy Pond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dorothy Pond is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy Pond
  • Fisherville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fisherville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisherville
  • Forest Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Park is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Halfway House
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Halfway House is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House
  • Happy Hills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Happy Hills is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hills
  • Maplewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Maplewood is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Marions Camp
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Marions Camp is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marions Camp
  • Pinecrest
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinecrest is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
  • Rocky Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Rocky Hill is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill

How Far From West Upton 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 Upton 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 Upton and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Upton to Worcester, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 31 miles [49.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 362 miles [582.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving 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 5,535 miles [8,907.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,242 miles [10,045.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • 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).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Upton) 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 Upton 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 Upton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1699, Longitude: -71.6210    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.339 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.949 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.919 degrees.