Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in National, we use the following websites to find information relevant to National and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for National
- 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 National:
- 39.608977, -78.940302
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on National
- 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 Allegany County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Allegany County
- Since National is near Garrett County and also Mineral County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Garrett County
- eBird sighting report for Mineral 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named National ...
We found eleven communities that share the name National.
Within Maryland, the name National is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Hot Spring 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 Arkansas community of National [Hot Spring County].
- Logan County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of National [Logan County].
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Iron 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 Michigan community of National [Iron County].
- Marquette County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of National [Marquette County].
- Nevada
- Utah
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near National ...
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.
- Borden Shaft
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borden Shaft have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Shaft
- Borden Shaft is located in Allegany County
- Brady
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Frost ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Frostburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frostburg
- Frostburg is located in Allegany County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,465 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frostburg <5>
- Grahamtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grahamtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grahamtown
- Grahamtown is located in Allegany County
- Horseshoe Curve
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Curve have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Curve
- Horseshoe Curve is located in Allegany County
- Moscow
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Moscow is located in Allegany County
- Mount Savage
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Savage have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage
- Mount Savage is located in Allegany County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Savage <5>
- Ocean
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Porters ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Red Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Sixmile House
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sixmile House have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile House
- Sixmile House is located in Allegany County
- Slabtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Triple Lakes
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triple Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triple Lakes
- Triple Lakes is located in Allegany County
How Far From National 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 National to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in National and extending to:
- Cumberland, which is the Seat of Allegany County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from National to Cumberland, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 113 miles [181.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,947 miles [9,570.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,659 miles [10,716.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,535 miles [7,298.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for National. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Allegany County: www.gov.allconet.org/
The official website for State of Maryland: https://www.maryland.gov/
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 National 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> | 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 National, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- National) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in National. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6090, Longitude: -78.9403 In this case, the coordinates for National have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 National to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.985 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.793 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.261 degrees. |