RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Plymouth County >> Westdale >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westdale 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 Westdale:
    • 42.020379, -70.982821
    • 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 Westdale
  • 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 Plymouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
    • Since Westdale is near Bristol County and also Norfolk 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 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 Westdale

Communities Also Named Westdale ...

We found eight communities that are also named Westdale.

Within Massachusetts, the name Westdale is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Westdale [Cook County].
    • Louisiana
      • East Baton Rouge Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Westdale [East Baton Rouge Parish].
      • Red River Parish
      • This Westdale is located in Red River Parish and lies 1,407 miles [2,264.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Westdale that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Red River Parish community of Westdale.
      • Tangipahoa Parish
      • This Westdale is located in Tangipahoa Parish and lies 1,340 miles [2,156.5 km] to the west southwest of the Westdale that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tangipahoa Parish community of Westdale.
    • New York
      • Oneida County
      • This Westdale is located in Oneida County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Westdale that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oneida County community of Westdale.
    • Ontario
      • This Westdale lies 460 miles [740.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Westdale that is located in Plymouth County.
    • Texas
      • Jim Wells County
      • This Westdale is located in Jim Wells County and lies 1,797 miles [2,892 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Westdale that is located in Plymouth County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jim Wells County community of Westdale.
    • Virginia
      • Henrico County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Westdale [Henrico County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westdale ...

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.

  • Beaver
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Beaver is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
  • Camp Titicut
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Camp Titicut is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Titicut
  • Curtisville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Curtisville is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
  • Elm Square
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Elm Square is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Square
  • Gurneys Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Gurneys Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurneys Corner
  • Manleys Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Manleys Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manleys Corner
  • Marshall Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Marshall Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Corner
  • Paper Mill Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Paper Mill Village is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
  • Pratts Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pratts Corner is located in Bristol County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratts Corner
  • Scotland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Scotland is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
  • Stanley
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Stanley is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
  • Town Hall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Town Hall is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Hall
  • Winters Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Winters Corner is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters Corner

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Westdale and extending to:

  • Plymouth, which is the Seat of Plymouth County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Westdale to Plymouth, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 23 miles [37 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 384 miles [618 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, 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 5,513 miles [8,872.3 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 6,219 miles [10,008.5 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>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Westdale could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Westdale) 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 Westdale 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 Westdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0204, Longitude: -70.9828       In this case, the coordinates for Westdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.98 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.519 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.71 degrees.