RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Howard County >> Annandale >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Annandale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Annandale 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 Annandale:
    • 39.323438, -76.974700
    • 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 Annandale
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Annandale is near Carroll County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Annandale

Communities Also Named Annandale ...

We found seven communities that are also named Annandale.

Within Maryland, the name Annandale is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Wright County
      • This Annandale is located in Wright County and lies 964 miles [1,551.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wright County community of Annandale.
    • Mississippi
      • Madison County
      • This Annandale is located in Madison County and lies 874 miles [1,406.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Annandale.
    • New Jersey
      • Hunterdon County
      • This Annandale is located in Hunterdon County and lies 143 miles [230.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunterdon County community of Annandale.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Butler County
      • This Annandale is located in Butler County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Annandale.
    • Prince Edward Island
      • This Annandale lies 877 miles [1,411.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
    • South Carolina
      • Georgetown County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Annandale [Georgetown County].
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Annandale is located in Fairfax County and lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Annandale that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Annandale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Annandale ...

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.

  • Alpha
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Alpha is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Cooksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Eagles Loft
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Eagles Loft is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Loft
  • Fairhaven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fairhaven is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Green Henge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Henge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Henge
  • Green Meadows
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Meadows is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
  • Hawk Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hawk Ridge is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Ridge
  • Heritage Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Heritage Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Farms
  • Hoods Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoods Mill is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Mill
  • Indian Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Indian Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hill
  • Ivory
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Ivory is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
  • Justifiable
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Justifiable is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Justifiable
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rover ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Rover is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rover
    • Sandy Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sandy Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hill
    • Slacks Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Slacks Corner is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slacks Corner
    • Sycamore Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Sycamore Springs is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs

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

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Annandale to Ellicott City, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 29 miles [46.7 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,877 miles [9,458.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,583 miles [10,594.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Annandale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Annandale 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Annandale 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 Annandale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3234, Longitude: -76.9747       In this case, the coordinates for Annandale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.825 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.431 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.522 degrees.