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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Walpole, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Walpole 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 Walpole:
    • 42.137043, -71.287000
    • 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 Walpole
  • 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 Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
    • Since West Walpole is near Middlesex County and also Bristol 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 Bristol 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 Walpole

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Walpole ...

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.

  • Benjamins Landing
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Benjamins Landing is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamins Landing
  • Camp Breezy Meadow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Camp Breezy Meadow is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Breezy Meadow
  • Caryville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Caryville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryville
  • Cedar
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cedar is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar
  • Cedar Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Dover
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Dover is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
  • Farm Street Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Farm Street Station is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Street Station
  • Foxvale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Foxvale is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxvale
  • Franklin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,711 people
  • Greenlodge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenlodge is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlodge
  • Plimptonville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Plimptonville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plimptonville
  • Pondville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pondville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Robinsonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Robinsonville is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinsonville
    • Rockville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Rockville is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
    • Summer Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Summer Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Heights
    • Unionville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Unionville is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville

How Far From West Walpole 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 Walpole 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 Walpole and extending to:

  • Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Walpole to Dedham, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 375 miles [603.5 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 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,522 miles [8,886.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,228 miles [10,023 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,105 miles [6,606.4 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 Walpole) 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 Walpole 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 Walpole. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1370, Longitude: -71.2870       In this case, the coordinates for West Walpole have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.145 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.724 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.787 degrees.