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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in South Portsmouth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to South Portsmouth 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 South Portsmouth:
    • 41.544825, -71.261160
    • 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 South Portsmouth
  • 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 Newport County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Newport County
    • Since South Portsmouth is near Bristol County and also Bristol County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bristol County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for South Portsmouth

Communities Also Named South Portsmouth ...

We found one communities that are also named South Portsmouth.

Within Rhode Island, the name South Portsmouth is unique.

Beyond Rhode Island, there is another community also named South Portsmouth in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Greenup County
      • This South Portsmouth is located in Greenup County and lies 649 miles [1,044.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the South Portsmouth that is located in Newport County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenup County community of South Portsmouth.

Curious and Interesting Names Near South Portsmouth ...

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.

  • Common Fence Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Common Fence Point is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Common Fence Point
  • Grayville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Grayville is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayville
  • Homestead
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Homestead is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
  • Island Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Island Park is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Park
  • Jamestown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamestown is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
  • Jamestown Shores
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jamestown Shores is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Shores
  • Little Compton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Compton is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton
  • Pottersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Pottersville is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville
  • Prudence Island
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Prudence Island is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudence Island
  • Prudence Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Prudence Park is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudence Park
  • Purgatory
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Purgatory is located in Newport County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purgatory

How Far From South Portsmouth to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as South Portsmouth to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in South Portsmouth and extending to:

  • Newport, which is the Seat of Newport County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from South Portsmouth to Providence, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 355 miles [571.3 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 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,544 miles [8,922.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,125 miles [6,638.5 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- South Portsmouth) 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 South Portsmouth 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 South Portsmouth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5448, Longitude: -71.2612       In this case, the coordinates for South Portsmouth have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.214 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.703 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.073 degrees.