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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Grafton Shops, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grafton Shops 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 Grafton Shops:
    • 39.580384, -76.404406
    • 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 Grafton Shops
  • 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 Grafton Shops is near Montgomery County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Grafton Shops

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grafton Shops ...

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.

  • Cedarwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedarwood is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarwood
  • Chestnut Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Chrome Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Chrome Hill is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chrome Hill
  • Cloverdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cloverdale is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Coopstown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Coopstown is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopstown
  • Ferncliff
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Ferncliff is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
  • Forest Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Forest Lake is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
  • Frogtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Frogtown is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
  • Harvest Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Harvest Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvest Hills
  • Heritage Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Heritage Woods is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Woods
  • Hickory
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hickory is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
  • Hickory Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • High Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • High Point is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Highfield Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Highfield Park is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield Park
    • Hill-N-Dale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Hill-N-Dale is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill-N-Dale
    • Longmeadow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Longmeadow is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
    • Marywood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Marywood is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marywood
    • Michaels Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Michaels Meadows is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaels Meadows
    • Parliament Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Parliament Ridge is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parliament Ridge
    • Pheasant Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pheasant Ridge is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Ridge
    • Pleasantville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasantville is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
    • Ridgeview
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Ridgeview is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Rock Spring
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rock Spring is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Spring
    • Seven Cedars
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Seven Cedars is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Cedars
    • Stirrup Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Stirrup Run is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirrup Run
    • White House Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • White House Park is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Park
    • Willows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Willows is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
    • Winters Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Winters Run is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters Run

How Far From Grafton Shops 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 Grafton Shops 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 Grafton Shops once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Grafton Shops and extending to:

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 41 miles [66 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Grafton Shops to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 58 miles [93.3 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 4,425 miles [7,121.3 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 Grafton Shops, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Grafton Shops) 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 Grafton Shops 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 Grafton Shops. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5804, Longitude: -76.4044       In this case, the coordinates for Grafton Shops have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.468 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.066 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.178 degrees.