RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Massachusetts







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whitneys, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitneys 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 Whitneys:
    • 42.240374, -71.406449
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Whitneys
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Whitneys ...

We found two communities that share the name Whitneys.

Within Massachusetts, the name Whitneys is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Kent 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 Michigan community of Whitneys [Kent County].
    • New York
      • Saint Lawrence 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 New York community of Whitneys [Saint Lawrence County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitneys ...

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
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Braggville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braggville
    • Braggville is located in Middlesex County
  • Camp Bob White
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camp Bob White have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Bob White
    • Camp Bob White is located in Middlesex County
  • Camp Breezy Meadow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camp Breezy Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Breezy Meadow
    • Camp Breezy Meadow is located in Norfolk County
  • Camp Mary Day
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camp Mary Day have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Mary Day
    • Camp Mary Day is located in Middlesex County
  • Caryville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caryville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryville
    • Caryville is located in Norfolk County
  • Dover
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Dover is located in Norfolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
  • Farm Street Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farm Street Station have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farm Street Station
    • Farm Street Station is located in Norfolk County
  • Fayville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayville
    • Fayville is located in Worcester County
  • Grantville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grantville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
    • Grantville is located in Norfolk County
  • Rockville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
    • Rockville is located in Norfolk County
  • Rocky Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill
    • Rocky Hill is located in Worcester County
  • Workmans Circle Camp
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Workmans Circle Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Workmans Circle Camp
    • Workmans Circle Camp is located in Middlesex County

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Whitneys and extending to:

  • Cambridge, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Whitneys to Cambridge, with an average speed<4> 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 19 miles [30.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 374 miles [601.9 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,523 miles [8,888.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,230 miles [10,026.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,106 miles [6,608 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Whitneys. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Whitneys 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>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>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- Whitneys) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whitneys. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2404, Longitude: -71.4064       In this case, the coordinates for Whitneys have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Whitneys to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.201 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.804 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.788 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024