Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cranston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cranston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cranston
- 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 Cranston:
- 41.778950, -71.435769
- 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 Cranston
- 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 Providence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Providence County
- Since Cranston is near Kent County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kent County
- eBird sighting report for Bristol 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 Cranston ...
We found five communities that share the name Cranston.
Within Rhode Island, the name Cranston is unique.
Beyond Rhode Island, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Ontario
- This Cranston lies 441 miles [709.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Cranston that is located in Providence County.
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cranston ...
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.
- Christian Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christian Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Hill
- Christian Hill is located in Providence County
- Cork Hill ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Dyerville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Federal Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Federal Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Hill
- Federal Hill is located in Providence County
- Foxes Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foxes Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxes Hill
- Foxes Hill is located in Providence County
- Garden City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Providence County
- Greenwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Hillsgrove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsgrove
- Hillsgrove is located in Kent County
- Hughesdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughesdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughesdale
- Hughesdale is located in Providence County
- Kent Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Corner
- Kent Corner is located in Providence County
- Kent Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Heights
- Kent Heights is located in Providence County
- Knightsville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knightsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsville
- Knightsville is located in Providence County
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Leonard Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard Corner
- Leonard Corner is located in Providence County
- Lincoln Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Kent County
- Palace Garden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palace Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palace Garden
- Palace Garden is located in Kent County
- Providence
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Providence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 179,270 people
- Silver Hook
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Hook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hook
- Silver Hook is located in Kent County
- Silver Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Spring
- Silver Spring is located in Providence County
- Six Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
- Six Corners is located in Providence County
- Spring Green
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Green
- Spring Green is located in Kent County
- Leonard Corner
How Far From Cranston 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 city such as Cranston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cranston and extending to:
- Providence, which is the Seat of Providence County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies just to the north northeast (NNE).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 355 miles [571.3 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Cranston to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 21 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,542 miles [8,919 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 4,124 miles [6,636.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Cranston: www.cranstonri.com/
The official website for State of Rhode Island: https://www.ri.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Cranston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cranston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7790, Longitude: -71.4358 |
| <2> | 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 Cranston 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Cranston 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 304.285 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.822 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.033 degrees. |