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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Catonsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Catonsville 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 Catonsville:
    • 39.272034, -76.731508
    • 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 Catonsville
  • 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 Baltimore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Since Catonsville is near Baltimore City and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Catonsville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Catonsville ...

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.

  • Asylum ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Asylum is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asylum
  • Chestnut Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Dickeyville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dickeyville is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
  • Fair Brook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fair Brook is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Brook
  • Featherbed
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Featherbed is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Featherbed
  • Frederick Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Frederick Village is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick Village
  • Gray
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gray is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Grays Level
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Grays Level is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Level
  • Harristown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Harristown is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
  • Heraldry Square
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Heraldry Square is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heraldry Square
  • Hilltop
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hilltop is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Hunting Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunting Ridge is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Ridge
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Lawyers Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Orange Grove ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Orange Grove is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Paradise
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Paradise is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
    • Relay
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Relay is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relay
    • Rolling Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Rolling Heights is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Heights
    • Thistle
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Thistle is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Timber Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Timber Point is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Point
    • Violetville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Woodlawn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Woodlawn is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Catonsville to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Catonsville and extending to:

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Catonsville to Towson, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 30 miles [48.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,869 miles [9,445.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,575 miles [10,581.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,451 miles [7,163.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 from Point A (ie- Catonsville) 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 Catonsville 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 Catonsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2720, Longitude: -76.7315    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.684 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.264 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.439 degrees.