RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Rhode Island >> Washington County >> Shannock >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shannock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shannock 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 Shannock:
    • 41.448149, -71.637823
    • 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 Shannock
  • 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 Shannock is near New London County and also Kent 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 Kent 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 Shannock

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shannock ...

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.

  • Barberville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Barberville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barberville
  • Centerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Fisherville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fisherville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisherville
  • Green Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Green Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Hope Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jerusalem
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Locustville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Locustville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locustville
  • Moscow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Peace Dale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Rockville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
  • Rocky Brook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Rodman Crossing ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Rodman Crossing is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodman Crossing
    • Shady Harbor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Shady Harbor is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Harbor
    • Shelter Harbor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Shelter Harbor is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Harbor
    • Snug Harbor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Snug Harbor is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snug Harbor
    • Tuckertown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Tuckertown is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckertown
    • Tug Hollow
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Tug Hollow is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tug Hollow
    • Wood River Junction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Wood River Junction is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood River Junction
    • Wyoming
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Shannock and extending to:

  • Wakefield, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the East.
  • Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Shannock to Providence, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 334 miles [537.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,564 miles [8,954.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,268 miles [10,087.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,145 miles [6,670.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Shannock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Shannock 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 Shannock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4481, Longitude: -71.6378    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.451 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.954 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.286 degrees.