RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Harford County >> Forest Lawn >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Forest Lawn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Forest Lawn 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 Forest Lawn:
    • 39.518163, -76.336904
    • 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 Forest Lawn
  • 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 Harford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Since Forest Lawn is near Baltimore County and also Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 Forest Lawn

Communities Also Named Forest Lawn ...

We found four communities that are also named Forest Lawn.

Within Maryland, the name Forest Lawn is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Forest Lawn lies 1,966 miles [3,164 km]<1> to the northwest of the Forest Lawn that is located in Harford County.
    • Michigan
      • Wayne 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 Michigan community of Forest Lawn [Wayne County].
    • New York
      • Monroe County
      • This Forest Lawn is located in Monroe County and lies 264 miles [424.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Forest Lawn that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Forest Lawn.
    • Virginia
      • Salem City
      • This Forest Lawn is located in Salem City and lies 251 miles [403.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Forest Lawn that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salem City community of Forest Lawn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Forest Lawn ...

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.

  • Bright Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bright Oaks is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Oaks
  • Camelot
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Camelot is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cedar Spring is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Spring
  • Evergreen Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Evergreen Heights is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Heights
  • Fairway
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fairway is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway
  • Fountain Glen
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fountain Glen is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Glen
  • Fountain Green
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fountain Green is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Green
  • Fox Bow
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Fox Bow is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Bow
  • Green Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Ridge is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
  • Harold Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Harold Heights is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harold Heights
  • Heritage Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Woods is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Woods
  • Hickory Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Homestead Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Homestead Village is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead Village
    • Howard Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Howard Park is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Park
    • Hunters Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Hunters Run is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Run
    • Ivy Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ivy Hill is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
    • Joppa Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Joppa Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Hills
    • Kings Charter
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Kings Charter is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Charter
    • Locust Knoll
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Locust Knoll is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Knoll
    • Longmeadow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Longmeadow is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
    • Majors Choice
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Majors Choice is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majors Choice
    • Marywood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Marywood is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marywood
    • Michaels Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Michaels Corner is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaels Corner
    • Parliament Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Parliament Ridge is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parliament Ridge
    • Parsons Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Parsons Ridge is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons Ridge
    • Sable Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sable Woods is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sable Woods
    • Scots Fancy
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Scots Fancy is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scots Fancy
    • Shamrock
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Shamrock is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Silver Spring Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Singer Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Singer Woods is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Singer Woods
    • Temple Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Temple Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hills
    • Todd Lakes
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Todd Lakes is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Lakes

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

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

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Forest Lawn to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 56 miles [90.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,842 miles [9,401.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,548 miles [10,538 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,424 miles [7,119.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Forest Lawn) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Forest Lawn 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 Forest Lawn 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 Forest Lawn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5182, Longitude: -76.3369       In this case, the coordinates for Forest Lawn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.433 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.017 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.174 degrees.