RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Washington County >> Marvania Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Marvania Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Marvania Heights 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 Marvania Heights:
    • 39.720926, -78.116671
    • 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 Marvania Heights
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Marvania Heights is near Fulton County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Marvania Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Marvania Heights ...

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.

  • Burnt Factory
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnt Factory is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Factory
  • Cherry Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Run is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
  • Dickeys Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Dickeys Mountain is located in Fulton County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeys Mountain
  • Dogtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Dogtown is located in Fulton County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Ernstville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ernstville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernstville
  • Indian Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Springs is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Jimtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jimtown is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
  • Mountain Vistas
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Vistas is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vistas
  • Park Head
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Park Head is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Head
  • Plum Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Plum Run is located in Fulton County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Run
  • Ridersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Ridersville is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridersville
  • Roundtop ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Roundtop is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundtop
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Shady Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Shady Grove is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Sleepy Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sleepy Creek is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Creek
    • Stanley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Stanley is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
    • Timber Ridge Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Timber Ridge Heights is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge Heights

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Marvania Heights and extending to:

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Marvania Heights to Hagerstown, with an average speed<2> 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 100 miles [160.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 81 miles [130.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,908 miles [9,508 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,619 miles [10,652.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,494 miles [7,232.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Marvania Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Marvania Heights 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 Marvania Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7209, Longitude: -78.1167       In this case, the coordinates for Marvania Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.482 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.238 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.86 degrees.