Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harp, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harp and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harp
- 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 Harp:
- 39.532045, -77.527488
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Harp
- 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Frederick County
- Since Harp is near Washington County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Harp ...
We found five communities that share the name Harp.
Within Maryland, the name Harp is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harp ...
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.
- Fishers Hollow
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fishers Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishers Hollow
- Fishers Hollow is located in Frederick County
- Five Forks
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Frederick County
- Harmony
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Harmony Knolls
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony Knolls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Knolls
- Harmony Knolls is located in Frederick County
- Highfields
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highfields have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfields
- Highfields is located in Frederick County
- Highland
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Jerusalem
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Lost Eden
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Meadow Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Ridge
- Meadow Ridge is located in Frederick County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Meeting House Overlook
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meeting House Overlook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeting House Overlook
- Meeting House Overlook is located in Frederick County
- Middlepoint
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middlepoint have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlepoint
- Middlepoint is located in Frederick County
- Shady Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Frederick County
- Turkey Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Hill
- Turkey Hill is located in Frederick County
- Vista Farms
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vista Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista Farms
- Vista Farms is located in Frederick County
- Woodland Way
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland Way have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Way
- Woodland Way is located in Frederick County
- Meeting House Overlook
How Far From Harp 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 Harp to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Harp and extending to:
- Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Harp to Frederick, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 51 miles [82.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,891 miles [9,480.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,476 miles [7,203.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Harp. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Frederick County: www.co.frederick.md.us/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Harp) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harp. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5320, Longitude: -77.5275 In this case, the coordinates for Harp have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Harp 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Harp to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.14 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.821 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.678 degrees. |