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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hawthorn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hawthorn 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 Hawthorn:
    • 39.202607, -76.881641
    • 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 Hawthorn
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Hawthorn is near Prince George's County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Hawthorn

Communities Also Named Hawthorn ...

We found five communities that are also named Hawthorn.

Within Maryland, the name Hawthorn is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Washington County
      • This Hawthorn is located in Washington County and lies 832 miles [1,339 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hawthorn that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Hawthorn.
    • Illinois
      • Cook 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 Illinois community of Hawthorn [Cook County].
      • White County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Hawthorn [White County].
    • Michigan
      • Monroe 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 Hawthorn [Monroe County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Clarion County
      • This Hawthorn is located in Clarion County and lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hawthorn that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarion County community of Hawthorn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hawthorn ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Arrowhead is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Cedar Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cedar Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Woods
  • Chapel Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapel Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Woods
  • Chase Eden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Chase Eden is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Eden
  • Clarksville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Dasher Green
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Dasher Green is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dasher Green
  • Elkhorn
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Elkhorn is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Farside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Farside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farside
  • Flamewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Flamewood is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flamewood
  • Fox Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fox Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Fox Pause
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Fox Pause is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Pause
  • Harpers Choice
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Harpers Choice is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Choice
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Heritage Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Heritage Heights is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Heights
    • Hobbits Glen
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Hobbits Glen is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbits Glen
    • Holiday Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Holiday Hills is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
    • Hopewell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hopewell is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • Hopkins Mead
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hopkins Mead is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins Mead
    • Locust Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Locust Park is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Park
    • Long Reach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Long Reach is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Reach
    • Longfellow
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Longfellow is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longfellow
    • Phelps Luck
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Phelps Luck is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Luck
    • Pleasant Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Running Brook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Running Brook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Stonebrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stonebrook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonebrook
    • Thunder Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Thunder Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Hill
    • Twin Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
    • Vantage Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Vantage Point is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage Point
    • Woodvalley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodvalley is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodvalley

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

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Hawthorn to Annapolis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 22 miles [35.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,878 miles [9,459.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,584 miles [10,595.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,461 miles [7,179.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hawthorn) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Hawthorn 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'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 Hawthorn 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 Hawthorn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2026, Longitude: -76.8816       In this case, the coordinates for Hawthorn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.778 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.359 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.53 degrees.