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





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in New Britain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to New Britain 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 New Britain:
    • 42.456776, -73.494973
    • 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 New Britain
  • 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 New Britain ...

We found three communities that share the name New Britain.

Within New York, the name New Britain is unique.

Beyond New York, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Hartford County
      • This New Britain is located in Hartford County and lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the New Britain that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hartford County community of New Britain.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This New Britain lies 513 miles [825.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the New Britain that is located in Columbia County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bucks County
      • This New Britain is located in Bucks County and lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the New Britain that is located in Columbia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bucks County community of New Britain.

Curious and Interesting Names Near New Britain ...

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.

  • Flatbrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flatbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatbrook
    • Flatbrook is located in Columbia County
  • Glass Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glass Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass Lake
    • Glass Lake is located in Rensselaer County
  • Kinderhook
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Luther
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Maple Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
    • Maple Grove is located in Rensselaer County
  • Red Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Riders
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riders have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riders
    • Riders is located in Columbia County
  • Riders Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rock City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Rock City is located in Columbia County
  • Rockdale Mills
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sand Lake
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Shaker Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Tanglewood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Tanglewood is located in Berkshire County (MA)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of New Britain once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in New Britain and extending to:

  • Hudson, which is the Seat of Columbia County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from New Britain to Hudson, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 307 miles [494.1 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 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,602 miles [9,015.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,190 miles [6,743.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<10>

The official website for Columbia County: www.columbiacountyny.com/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- New Britain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in New Britain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4568, Longitude: -73.4950       In this case, the coordinates for New Britain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>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 New Britain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 New Britain 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 305.432 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.226 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.628 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 15 Jul 2025