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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Block Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Block Island and the surrounding area.
- 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 Block Island:
- 41.172003, -71.578441
- 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 Block Island
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Block Island is near New London County and also Newport County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for New London County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Newport 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 Block Island
Communities Also Named Block Island ...
We found one communities that are also named Block Island.
There is one other community in Rhode Island that is also named Block Island.
Beyond Rhode Island.
- Communities Located In Rhode Island ...
- Newport 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 Rhode Island community of Block Island [Newport County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Block Island ...
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.
- Dunn Landing
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Dunn Landing is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn Landing
- Green Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Green Hill is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Isaacs Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Isaacs Corner is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs Corner
- Jerusalem
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Seaweed Beach
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Seaweed Beach is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaweed Beach
- Shady Harbor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Shady Harbor is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Harbor
- Shelter Harbor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Shelter Harbor is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Harbor
- Snug Harbor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Snug Harbor is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snug Harbor
How Far From Block Island 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 Block Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Block Island and extending to:
- Wakefield, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Block Island to Wakefield, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
- Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies 45 miles [72.4 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 328 miles [527.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,572 miles [8,967.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,274 miles [10,097 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,152 miles [6,682 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 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 Block Island 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Block Island) 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 Block Island 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 Block Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1720, Longitude: -71.5784 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.453 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.911 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.396 degrees. |
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