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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McAlpine, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McAlpine 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 McAlpine:
    • 39.260384, -76.831085
    • 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 McAlpine
  • 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 McAlpine 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 McAlpine

Communities Also Named McAlpine ...

We found two communities that are also named McAlpine.

Within Maryland, the name McAlpine is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nebraska
      • Sherman County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Sherman County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sherman County community of McAlpine.
    • Ontario
      • This McAlpine lies 446 miles [717.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the McAlpine that is located in Howard County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McAlpine ...

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.

  • Chapelview
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Chapelview is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapelview
  • Chestnut Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Farms
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Fox Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Fox Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Gray
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Gray is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Gray Rock
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Gray Rock is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock
  • Gray Rock Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Gray Rock Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock Farms
  • Grays Level
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Grays Level is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Level
  • Hilltop
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Hilltop is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Howard Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Howard Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Heights
  • Ivy Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ivy Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
  • Jonestown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jonestown is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Phelps Luck
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Phelps Luck is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Luck
    • Pine Orchard
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Pine Orchard is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Rockland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Rockland is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Running Brook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Running Brook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Sky View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Sky View is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky View
    • Thornbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Thornbrook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornbrook
    • Thunder Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Thunder Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Hill
    • Timber Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Timber Point is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Point
    • Timber Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Timber Run is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Run
    • Toll House
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Toll House is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toll House
    • Vantage Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Vantage Point is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage Point
    • Wheatfield Way
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Wheatfield Way is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield Way

How Far From McAlpine to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as McAlpine to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from McAlpine 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 just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 27 miles [43.5 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 5,873 miles [9,451.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,579 miles [10,587.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,456 miles [7,171.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about McAlpine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- McAlpine) 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 McAlpine 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 McAlpine. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2604, Longitude: -76.8311       In this case, the coordinates for McAlpine have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.744 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.33 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.486 degrees.