RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Saint Mary's County >> Bull Run >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bull Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bull Run 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 Bull Run:
    • 38.337905, -76.791357
    • 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 Bull Run
  • 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 Saint Mary's County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Mary's County
    • Since Bull Run is near Charles County and also Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland 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 Bull Run

Communities Also Named Bull Run ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Bull Run.

Within Maryland, the name Bull Run is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Terrebonne Parish
      • This Bull Run is located in Terrebonne Parish and lies 1,002 miles [1,612.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Terrebonne Parish community of Bull Run.
    • Nevada
      • Elko County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Elko County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elko County community of Bull Run.
    • New York
      • Ulster County
      • This Bull Run is located in Ulster County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ulster County community of Bull Run.
    • Oregon
      • Clackamas County
      • This Bull Run is located in Clackamas County and lies 2,354 miles [3,788.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Bull Run.
    • Tennessee
      • Anderson County
      • This Bull Run is located in Anderson County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Bull Run.
      • Davidson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Bull Run [Davidson County].
      • Knox 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 Tennessee community of Bull Run [Knox County].
    • Texas
      • Newton County
      • Although located in Newton County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Bull Run.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Bull Run [Fairfax County].
      • Prince William County
      • This Bull Run is located in Prince William County and lies 49 miles [78.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince William County community of Bull Run.
    • West Virginia
      • Preston County
      • This Bull Run is located in Preston County and lies 181 miles [291.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bull Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Preston County community of Bull Run.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bull Run ...

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.

  • Avenue
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Birch Hanger
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Birch Hanger is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Hanger
  • Coffee Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coffee Hill is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Hill
  • Gravelly Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Gravelly Hills is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Hills
  • Helen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Helen is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
  • Holly Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Holly Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Oaks
  • Hurry
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hurry is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurry
  • Indiantown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Indiantown is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiantown
  • Longview Beach
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Longview Beach is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview Beach
  • Milestown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Milestown is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milestown
  • Mount Pleasant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Mount Victoria
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Victoria is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Victoria
  • Rock Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock Point is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Point
  • Yellow Bank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Yellow Bank is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Bank

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

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

  • Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Bull Run to Annapolis, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 40 miles [64.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 over two days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,911 miles [9,512.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,613 miles [10,642.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,491 miles [7,227.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bull Run) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Bull Run, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Bull Run 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.
<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 Bull Run 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 Bull Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3379, Longitude: -76.7914       In this case, the coordinates for Bull Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.78 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.228 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.827 degrees.