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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Barstow, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Barstow 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 Barstow:
    • 38.525664, -76.616204
    • 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 Barstow
  • 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 Calvert County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calvert County
    • Since Barstow is near Charles County and also Prince George's County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Barstow

Communities Also Named Barstow ...

We found seven communities that are also named Barstow.

Within Maryland, the name Barstow 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 ...
    • California
      • Fresno County
      • This Barstow is located in Fresno County and lies 2,350 miles [3,782 km]<1> to the west of the Barstow that is located in Calvert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fresno County community of Barstow.
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Barstow is located in San Bernardino County and lies 2,232 miles [3,592.1 km] to the west of the Barstow that is located in Calvert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Barstow.
    • Illinois
      • Rock Island County
      • This Barstow is located in Rock Island County and lies 754 miles [1,213.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Barstow that is located in Calvert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rock Island County community of Barstow.
    • Kansas
      • Cowley 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 Kansas community of Barstow [Cowley County].
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Barstow.
    • Texas
      • Ward County
      • This Barstow is located in Ward County and lies 1,584 miles [2,549.2 km]<1> to the west of the Barstow that is located in Calvert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ward County community of Barstow.
    • Washington
      • Ferry County
      • This Barstow is located in Ferry County and lies 2,161 miles [3,477.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Barstow that is located in Calvert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ferry County community of Barstow.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Barstow ...

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.

  • Cedar Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Beach is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Beach
  • Cedar Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Point is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
  • Central Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Central Village is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village
  • Chapel Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Cypress Knolls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Knolls is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Knolls
  • Fiddlers Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fiddlers Point is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiddlers Point
  • Follywoods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Follywoods is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Follywoods
  • Fox Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fox Hill is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Hunters Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hunters Ridge is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Ridge
  • Meadow Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Meadow Oaks is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Oaks
  • Potts Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Potts Point is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potts Point
  • Prince Frederick
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Queensberry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Queensberry is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queensberry
    • Quiet Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Quiet Meadows is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Meadows
    • Ravenshead
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Ravenshead is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenshead
    • Rose Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rose Hill is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Turkey Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Turkey Ridge is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Ridge
    • Valley Lee
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Valley Lee is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Lee
    • Wild Goose Landing
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wild Goose Landing is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Goose Landing

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

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

  • Prince Frederick, which is the Seat of Calvert County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Barstow to Annapolis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two 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 34 miles [54.7 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,895 miles [9,487.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,598 miles [10,618.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,475 miles [7,201.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Barstow) 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 Barstow 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 Barstow 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 Barstow. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5257, Longitude: -76.6162    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.666 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.128 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.682 degrees.