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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Beech Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beech Creek 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 Beech Creek:
    • 39.233717, -76.886919
    • 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 Beech Creek
  • 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 Beech Creek is near Baltimore County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Beech Creek

Communities Also Named Beech Creek ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Beech Creek.

Within Maryland, the name Beech Creek is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Ashley County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Beech Creek [Ashley County].
      • Columbia County
      • This Beech Creek is located in Columbia County and lies 998 miles [1,606.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Beech Creek that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Beech Creek.
      • Dallas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Beech Creek [Dallas County].
    • Florida
      • Levy County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Beech Creek [Levy County].
    • Kentucky
      • Muhlenberg County
      • This Beech Creek is located in Muhlenberg County and lies 569 miles [915.7 km]<2> to the west of the Beech Creek that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muhlenberg County community of Beech Creek.
    • North Carolina
      • Avery County
      • This Beech Creek is located in Avery County and lies 342 miles [550.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Beech Creek that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Avery County community of Beech Creek.
      • Watauga County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Beech Creek [Watauga County].
    • Oregon
      • Grant County
      • This Beech Creek is located in Grant County and lies 2,177 miles [3,503.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Beech Creek that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Beech Creek.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clinton County
      • This Beech Creek is located in Clinton County and lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Beech Creek that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clinton County community of Beech Creek.
    • West Virginia
      • Logan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Beech Creek [Logan County].
      • Mingo County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Beech Creek [Mingo County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Beech Creek ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Arrowhead is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Cedar Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cedar Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Woods
  • Chapel Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Chapel Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Woods
  • Clarksville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Dasher Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dasher Green is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dasher Green
  • Farside
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Farside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farside
  • Fox Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Fox Pause
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fox Pause is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Pause
  • Gray Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gray Rock is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock
  • Gray Rock Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gray Rock Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock Farms
  • Harpers Choice
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Harpers Choice is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Choice
  • Heritage Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Heritage Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Heights
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Hobbits Glen
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Hobbits Glen is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbits Glen
    • Holiday Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Holiday Hills is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
    • Locust Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Locust Park is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Park
    • Locust Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Locust Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Ridge
    • Longfellow
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Longfellow is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longfellow
    • Phelps Luck
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Phelps Luck is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Luck
    • Pine Orchard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Pine Orchard is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Running Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Running Brook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Thunder Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Thunder Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Hill
    • Vantage Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Vantage Point is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage Point

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

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Beech Creek to Annapolis, with an average speed<5> 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 24 miles [38.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<6> 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).<7>
  • 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).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Beech Creek 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beech Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Beech Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Beech Creek 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 Beech Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2337, Longitude: -76.8869       In this case, the coordinates for Beech Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.779 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.365 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.52 degrees.