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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Downsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Downsville 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 Downsville:
    • 39.548431, -77.801661
    • 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 Downsville
  • 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 Downsville is near Berkeley County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 Downsville

Communities Also Named Downsville ...

We found five communities that are also named Downsville.

Within Maryland, the name Downsville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Union Parish
      • This Downsville is located in Union Parish and lies 943 miles [1,517.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Downsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union Parish community of Downsville.
    • New York
      • Delaware County
      • This Downsville is located in Delaware County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Downsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Downsville.
    • North Carolina
      • Caldwell County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Downsville [Caldwell County].
    • Texas
      • McLennan County
      • This Downsville is located in McLennan County and lies 1,215 miles [1,955.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Downsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLennan County community of Downsville.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dunn County
      • This Downsville is located in Dunn County and lies 806 miles [1,297.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Downsville that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dunn County community of Downsville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Downsville ...

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 Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Dogtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dogtown is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Fairplay
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Fairplay Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Fairplay Farms is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay Farms
  • Falling Waters
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Falling Waters Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Falling Waters Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Waters Ferry
  • Friendship Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Friendship Park is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Park
  • Green Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Halfway
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Halfway is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway
  • Lemons Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lemons Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemons Ferry
  • Lights Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lights Ferry is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lights Ferry
  • Scrabble
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Scrabble is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scrabble

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

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

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 80 miles [128.7 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Downsville to Annapolis, with an average speed<4>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 60 miles [96.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,612 miles [10,641 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,487 miles [7,221.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Downsville) 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 Downsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Downsville 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 Downsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5484, Longitude: -77.8017       In this case, the coordinates for Downsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.303 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.009 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.79 degrees.