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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Countryside, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Countryside 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 Countryside:
    • 39.697317, -77.748049
    • 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 Countryside
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Countryside is near Franklin County and also Berkeley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley 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 Countryside

Communities Also Named Countryside ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Countryside.

There are two communities within Maryland that are also named Countryside.

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

  • Communities Located In Maryland ...
    • Charles County
      • This Countryside is located in Charles County and lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charles County community of Countryside.
    • Howard County
      • This Countryside is located in Howard County and lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Countryside.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Jefferson County
      • This Countryside is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,446 miles [2,327.1 km]<1> to the west of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Countryside.
    • Florida
      • Pinellas 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 Florida community of Countryside [Pinellas County].
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Countryside is located in Cook County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Countryside.
      • Kane 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 Illinois community of Countryside [Kane County].
      • Kendall County
      • This Countryside is located in Kendall County and lies 576 miles [927 km] to the west northwest of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kendall County community of Countryside.
      • Lake 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 Illinois community of Countryside [Lake County].
    • Kansas
      • Johnson County
      • This Countryside is located in Johnson County and lies 902 miles [1,451.6 km]<1> to the west of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Countryside.
    • Massachusetts
      • Middlesex County
      • This Countryside is located in Middlesex County and lies 390 miles [627.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Countryside.
    • Missouri
      • Platte 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 Missouri community of Countryside [Platte County].
    • Tennessee
      • Knox County
      • This Countryside is located in Knox County and lies 430 miles [692 km]<1> to the southwest of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Countryside.
    • Virginia
      • Loudoun County
      • This Countryside is located in Loudoun County and lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Countryside that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Loudoun County community of Countryside.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Countryside ...

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 Lawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Clearview
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Clearview is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Fountain Head
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fountain Head is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Head
  • Gardenspot
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Gardenspot is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardenspot
  • Hunter Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hunter Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Hill
  • Long Meadow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Meadow is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Meadow
  • Martins Crossroads
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Martins Crossroads is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Crossroads
  • Mason and Dixon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Mason and Dixon is located in Franklin County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason and Dixon
  • Orchard Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Orchard Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
  • Paramount
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Paramount is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
  • Spring Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Spring Valley is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
  • Terrace Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Terrace Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrace Hills
  • Wood Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Wood Point is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Point

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

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

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 83 miles [133.6 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Countryside to Annapolis, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,893 miles [9,483.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,603 miles [10,626.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,479 miles [7,208.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Countryside) 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 Countryside 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 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.
<4>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 Countryside 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 Countryside. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6973, Longitude: -77.7480       In this case, the coordinates for Countryside have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.262 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.985 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.709 degrees.