RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Saint Mary's County >> Laurel Run >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Run, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel Run 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 Laurel Run:
    • 38.213459, -76.431340
    • 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 Laurel Run
  • 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 Laurel Run is near Calvert County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calvert County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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 Laurel Run

Communities Also Named Laurel Run ...

We found three communities that are also named Laurel Run.

Within Maryland, the name Laurel Run is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Elk County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Laurel Run [Elk County].
      • Luzerne County
      • This Laurel Run is located in Luzerne County and lies 209 miles [336.4 km]<2> to the north of the Laurel Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luzerne County community of Laurel Run.
    • West Virginia
      • Preston County
      • This Laurel Run is located in Preston County and lies 202 miles [325.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Laurel Run that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Preston County community of Laurel Run.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel Run ...

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.

  • Ancient Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ancient Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks
  • Cedar Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Cove is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cove
  • Colony Square
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Colony Square is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Square
  • Discovery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Discovery is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Discovery
  • Dutchmans Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dutchmans Cove is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchmans Cove
  • Elms Beach
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Elms Beach is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elms Beach
  • Evergreen Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Evergreen Park is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
  • Flowers of the Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Flowers of the Forest is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers of the Forest
  • Forest Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Forest Park is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Friendly Pines
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendly Pines is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Pines
  • Great Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hermanville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hermanville is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermanville
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Hunting Neck Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hunting Neck Woods is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Neck Woods
    • Jonestown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Jonestown is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
    • Leachburg
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Leachburg is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leachburg
    • Park Pines
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Park Pines is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Pines
    • Spring Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stoney Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Stoney Run is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Run
    • Valley Lee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Valley Lee is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Lee

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

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

  • Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Laurel Run to Leonardtown, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the north (N). 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 57 miles [91.7 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over 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 5,900 miles [9,495.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,601 miles [10,623.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,479 miles [7,208.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Laurel Run 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.
<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- Laurel Run) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Laurel Run 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 Laurel Run. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2135, Longitude: -76.4313       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Run have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.578 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.98 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.727 degrees.