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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dorseys Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dorseys 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 Dorseys Run:
    • 39.313161, -76.831086
    • 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 Dorseys 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Dorseys Run is near Baltimore County and also Carroll 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 Carroll 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 Dorseys Run

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dorseys 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.

  • Chestnut Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Farms
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Daniels ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Daniels is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels
    • Former names for Daniels:
    • Alberton
    • Elsyville
  • Fields of Harvest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fields of Harvest is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields of Harvest
  • Granite
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Granite is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
  • Howard Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Howard Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Heights
  • Ivy Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivy Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
  • Kraft Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Kraft Corner is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kraft Corner
  • Maplewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Maplewood is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Pine Orchard
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Orchard is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
  • Rockland
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Rockland is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
  • Rolling Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Rolling Ridge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
  • Sky View
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sky View is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky View
  • Thornbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Thornbrook is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornbrook

How Far From Dorseys Run to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Dorseys Run once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Dorseys Run and extending to:

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Dorseys Run to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> 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 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,871 miles [9,448.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,454 miles [7,168 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Dorseys Run, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dorseys Run) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dorseys 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 Dorseys Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3132, Longitude: -76.8311       In this case, the coordinates for Dorseys Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.74 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.334 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.465 degrees.