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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Helen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helen and the surrounding area.
- 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 Helen:
- 38.382903, -76.721631
- 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 Helen
- 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 Saint Mary's County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Mary's County
- Since Helen is near Charles County and also Calvert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Charles County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Calvert 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 Helen
Communities Also Named Helen ...
We found eight communities that are also named Helen.
Within Maryland, the name Helen is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Leon County
- This Helen is located in Leon County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Helen that is located in Saint Mary's County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leon County community of Helen.
- Georgia
- White County
- This Helen is located in White County and lies 464 miles [746.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Helen that is located in Saint Mary's County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the White County community of Helen.
- Kansas
- Meade 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 Kansas community of Helen [Meade County].
- Sedgwick 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 Kansas community of Helen [Sedgwick County].
- Pennsylvania
- Fayette County
- This Helen is located in Fayette County and lies 197 miles [317 km]<1> to the northwest of the Helen that is located in Saint Mary's County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Helen.
- Tennessee
- Henry 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 Tennessee community of Helen [Henry County].
- Washington
- Benton County
- This Helen is located in Benton County and lies 2,226 miles [3,582.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Helen that is located in Saint Mary's County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Helen.
- West Virginia
- Raleigh County
- This Helen is located in Raleigh County and lies 255 miles [410.4 km]<1> to the west of the Helen that is located in Saint Mary's County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Raleigh County community of Helen.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Helen ...
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.
- Big Oak
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Big Oak is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Oak
- Birch Hanger
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Birch Hanger is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Hanger
- Bull Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bull Run is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
- Burning Oaks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Burning Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Oaks
- Burnt Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Burnt Mill is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Mill
- Cellar Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cellar Hill is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cellar Hill
- Coffee Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coffee Hill is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Hill
- Gravelly Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Gravelly Hills is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Hills
- Holly Oaks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Holly Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Oaks
- Horse Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Horse Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Landing
- Huntersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Huntersville is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntersville
- Hurry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hurry is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurry
- Continue List (9 more) ...
- Loveville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Loveville is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveville
- Mechanicsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Queen Tree Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Queen Tree Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Tree Landing
- Redgate
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Redgate is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redgate
- Shady Dale
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Shady Dale is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Dale
- Summerseat
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Summerseat is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerseat
- Summerseat Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Summerseat Village is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerseat Village
- Widow Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Widow Woods is located in Saint Mary's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widow Woods
How Far From Helen to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Helen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Helen and extending to:
- Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Helen to Annapolis, with an average speed<4> 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 39 miles [62.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,906 miles [9,504.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,486 miles [7,219.5 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Helen) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Helen 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 Helen 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 Helen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3829, Longitude: -76.7216 In this case, the coordinates for Helen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.737 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.186 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.781 degrees. |
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