Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Houghton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Houghton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Houghton
- 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 Houghton:
- 44.765058, -70.649513
- 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 Houghton
- 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 Oxford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Oxford County
- Since Houghton is near Franklin County and also Coos County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- eBird sighting report for Coos 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Houghton ...
We found seven communities that share the name Houghton.
Within Maine, the name Houghton is unique.
Beyond Maine, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Michigan
- New York
- South Dakota
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Houghton ...
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.
- Carthage
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Chase Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chase Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Corner
- Chase Corner is located in Franklin County
- Macy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Madrid
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid
- Madrid is located in Franklin County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Madrid <5>
- Madrid Junction
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madrid Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid Junction
- Madrid Junction is located in Franklin County
- Mexico
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexico have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
- Mexico is located in Oxford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,635 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mexico <5>
- Middle Dam
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Dam have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Dam
- Middle Dam is located in Oxford County
- Mingo Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mingo Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo Springs
- Mingo Springs is located in Franklin County
- Mountainview
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainview
- Mountainview is located in Franklin County
- Reeds
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Ten Degree
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ten Degree have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Degree
- Ten Degree is located in Franklin County
- Upper Dam
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Dam
- Upper Dam is located in Oxford County
How Far From Houghton 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 Houghton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Houghton and extending to:
- South Paris, which is the Seat of Oxford County, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Houghton to South Paris, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 53 miles [85.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 521 miles [838.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,395 miles [8,682.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,111 miles [9,834.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,986 miles [6,414.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Houghton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Oxford County: www.oxfordcounty.org/
The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Houghton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Houghton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Houghton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7651, Longitude: -70.6495 In this case, the coordinates for Houghton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Houghton 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Houghton to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.333 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.262 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 299.099 degrees. |