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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Foreston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Foreston 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 Foreston:
    • 39.613715, -76.755252
    • 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 Foreston
  • 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 Foreston is near Carroll County and also York County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York 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 Foreston

Communities Also Named Foreston ...

We found four communities that are also named Foreston.

Within Maryland, the name Foreston 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 ...
    • Minnesota
      • Mille Lacs County
      • This Foreston is located in Mille Lacs County and lies 956 miles [1,538.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Foreston that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mille Lacs County community of Foreston.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Foreston lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Foreston that is located in Baltimore County.
    • South Carolina
      • Clarendon County
      • This Foreston is located in Clarendon County and lies 451 miles [725.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Foreston that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarendon County community of Foreston.
    • Texas
      • Ellis 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 Texas community of Foreston [Ellis County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Foreston ...

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.

  • Bacon Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bacon Hall is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bacon Hall
  • Brandy Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Brandy Springs is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Springs
  • Cedar Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cedarbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cedarbrook is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarbrook
  • Clear View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Clear View is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear View
  • Flickerwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Flickerwood is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flickerwood
  • Hamlet Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hamlet Farms is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet Farms
  • Happy Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Happy Valley is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
  • Hunter Green
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hunter Green is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Green
  • Prettyboy
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Prettyboy is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prettyboy
  • Prettyboy Garth
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Prettyboy Garth is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prettyboy Garth
  • Prettyboy Trails
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Prettyboy Trails is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prettyboy Trails
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Roberts Field
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Roberts Field is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Field
    • Rockbrook Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Rockbrook Village is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbrook Village
    • Seven Havens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Seven Havens is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Havens
    • Spook Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Spook Hill is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook Hill
    • Steeplechase
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Steeplechase is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steeplechase
    • Stringtown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Stringtown is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Sunset Way
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sunset Way is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Way

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

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

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Foreston to Towson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 46 miles [74 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 51 miles [82.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of 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 5,855 miles [9,422.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,563 miles [10,562.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,439 miles [7,143.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Foreston) 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 Foreston 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 Foreston 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 Foreston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6137, Longitude: -76.7553       In this case, the coordinates for Foreston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.674 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.305 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.314 degrees.