RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Cecil County >> Head of Canal >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Head of Canal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Head of Canal 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 Head of Canal:
    • 39.710383, -76.219677
    • 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 Head of Canal
  • 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 Cecil County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cecil County
    • Since Head of Canal is near Harford County and also Lancaster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster 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 Head of Canal

Curious and Interesting Names Near Head of Canal ...

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.

  • Bald Friar ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bald Friar is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Friar
  • Cooper
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cooper is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
  • Five Points ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Five Points is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Glen Cove ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Glen Cove is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Jenkins Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenkins Corner is located in Lancaster County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Corner
  • Mount Pleasant ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Peach Bottom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pilot
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Pilot is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot
  • Pleasant Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Lancaster County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Rock Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rock Springs is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
  • Whispering Pines
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines

How Far From Head of Canal 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 Head of Canal 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<2> community of Head of Canal once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Head of Canal and extending to:

  • Elkton, which is the Seat of Cecil County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<3> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Head of Canal to Elkton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 71 miles [114.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,829 miles [9,380.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,535 miles [10,517.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,412 miles [7,100.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 Head of Canal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Head of Canal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Head of Canal 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 Head of Canal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7104, Longitude: -76.2197       In this case, the coordinates for Head of Canal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.349 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.951 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.046 degrees.