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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Worcester, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Worcester 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 Worcester:
    • 42.264482, -71.799688
    • 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 Worcester
  • 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 Worcester 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 Worcester

Communities Also Named Worcester ...

We found eight communities that are also named Worcester.

Within Massachusetts, the name Worcester 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 ...
    • Indiana
      • Elkhart 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 Indiana community of Worcester [Elkhart County].
    • Michigan
      • Newaygo 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 Worcester [Newaygo County].
    • Missouri
      • Audrain County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Worcester [Audrain County].
    • New York
      • Otsego County
      • This Worcester is located in Otsego County and lies 152 miles [244.6 km]<3> to the west of the Worcester that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otsego County community of Worcester.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Montgomery County
      • This Worcester is located in Montgomery County and lies 232 miles [373.4 km]<3> to the southwest of the Worcester that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Worcester.
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Worcester lies 1,603 miles [2,579.8 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Worcester that is located in Worcester County.
    • Vermont
      • Washington County
      • This Worcester is located in Washington County and lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Worcester that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Worcester.
    • Wisconsin
      • Price County
      • This Worcester is located in Price County and lies 945 miles [1,520.8 km]<3> to the west northwest of the Worcester that is located in Worcester County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Price County community of Worcester.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Worcester ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Burncoat is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burncoat
  • Cherry Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Valley is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
  • Dorothy Pond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dorothy Pond is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy Pond
  • Fairlawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fairlawn is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Heard Street
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Heard Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Street
  • Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Island is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island
  • Jamesville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamesville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
  • June Street
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • June Street is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for June Street
  • Lakeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Maplewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Maplewood is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Pinecrest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pinecrest is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
  • Pondville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pondville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondville
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Rice Square
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rice Square is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Square
    • Salisbury Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Salisbury Heights is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Heights
    • Union Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Union Hill is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • University Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • University Park is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
    • Woodland Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodland Park is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

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

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

  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Worcester to Boston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two 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 359 miles [577.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,539 miles [8,914.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,123 miles [6,635.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>'

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 Worcester 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Worcester, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Worcester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Worcester 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 Worcester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2645, Longitude: -71.7997    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.433 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.07 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.952 degrees.