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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ilchester, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ilchester 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 Ilchester:
    • 39.250940, -76.764695
    • 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 Ilchester
  • 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 Ilchester is near Baltimore County and also Baltimore City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
  • 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 Ilchester

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ilchester ...

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.

  • Asylum ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Asylum is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asylum
  • Bonnie Brae
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonnie Brae is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie Brae
  • Chapelview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapelview is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapelview
  • Chestnut Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Farms
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Elkridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Elkridge Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elkridge Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkridge Heights
  • Frederick Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Frederick Village is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick Village
  • Gray
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Gray is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Gray Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gray Rock is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock
  • Grays Level
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Grays Level is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Level
  • Harristown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Harristown is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Hilltop
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hilltop is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
    • Ivy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ivy Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
    • Jonestown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jonestown is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
    • Lawyers Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawyers Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers Hill
    • Long Reach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Reach is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Reach
    • Marble Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Marble Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Hill
    • Orange Grove ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Orange Grove is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Paradise
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Paradise is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
    • Phelps Luck
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Phelps Luck is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Luck
    • Pleasant View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasant View is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
    • Quail Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Quail Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Ridge
    • Relay
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Relay is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relay
    • Rockburn Commons
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockburn Commons is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockburn Commons
    • Thistle
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Thistle is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Timber Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Timber Point is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Point
    • Timber Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Timber Run is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Run
    • Timberview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Timberview is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberview
    • Toll House
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Toll House is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toll House
    • Wheatfield Way
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Wheatfield Way is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield Way
    • Woodland Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Woodland Village is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ilchester and extending to:

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 23 miles [37 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Ilchester to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> 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 most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 28 miles [45.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,871 miles [9,448.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,454 miles [7,168 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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>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- Ilchester) 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 Ilchester 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 Ilchester. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2509, Longitude: -76.7647       In this case, the coordinates for Ilchester have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.705 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.284 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.462 degrees.