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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Londonderry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Londonderry 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 Londonderry:
    • 39.137330, -77.208037
    • 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 Londonderry
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Londonderry is near Fairfax County and also Loudoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun 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 Londonderry

Communities Also Named Londonderry ...

We found nine communities that are also named Londonderry.

There is one other community in Maryland that is also named Londonderry.

Beyond Maryland, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Maryland ...
    • Talbot County
      • This Londonderry is located in Talbot County and lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Talbot County community of Londonderry.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Orange 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 Florida community of Londonderry [Orange County].
    • New Brunswick
      • This Londonderry lies 747 miles [1,202.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
    • New Hampshire
      • Rockingham County
      • This Londonderry is located in Rockingham County and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Londonderry.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Londonderry lies 819 miles [1,318.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
    • Ohio
      • Guernsey County
      • This Londonderry is located in Guernsey County and lies 228 miles [366.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guernsey County community of Londonderry.
      • Ross County
      • This Londonderry is located in Ross County and lies 298 miles [479.6 km] to the west of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ross County community of Londonderry.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Londonderry is located in Harris County and lies 1,210 miles [1,947.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Londonderry.
    • Vermont
      • Windham County
      • This Londonderry is located in Windham County and lies 363 miles [584.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Londonderry that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windham County community of Londonderry.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Londonderry ...

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.

  • Brown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Brown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Charlene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Charlene is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlene
  • Clopper
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clopper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopper
  • Coventry
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Coventry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Diamond Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Diamond Farms is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Farms
  • Flower Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Flower Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flower Hill
  • Fox Chapel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Fox Chapel is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Chapel
  • Hunting Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hunting Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hill
  • Log Town ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Log Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
  • Longdraft
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Longdraft is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdraft
  • Nathans Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Nathans Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathans Hill
  • Observatory Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Observatory Heights is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Observatory Heights
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Orchard Place
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Orchard Place is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Place
    • Orchard Pond
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Orchard Pond is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Pond
    • Parkridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Parkridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkridge
    • Pleasant Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
    • Quail Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Quail Valley is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Valley
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Whetstone
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Whetstone is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetstone

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

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

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Londonderry to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two 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 18 miles [29 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,894 miles [9,485.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,601 miles [10,623.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,478 miles [7,206.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Londonderry) 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 Londonderry 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 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 Londonderry 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 Londonderry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1373, Longitude: -77.2080       In this case, the coordinates for Londonderry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.975 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.573 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.694 degrees.