RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Oak Orchard >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oak Orchard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oak Orchard 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 Oak Orchard:
    • 39.491751, -77.154536
    • 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 Oak Orchard
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Oak Orchard is near Carroll County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Oak Orchard

Communities Also Named Oak Orchard ...

We found six communities that are also named Oak Orchard.

There is one other community in Maryland that is also named Oak Orchard.

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

  • Communities Located In Maryland ...
    • Prince George's 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 Maryland community of Oak Orchard [Prince George's County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Delaware
      • Sussex County
      • This Oak Orchard is located in Sussex County and lies 122 miles [196.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Oak Orchard that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Oak Orchard.
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Oak Orchard is located in Onondaga County and lies 261 miles [420 km]<2> to the north of the Oak Orchard that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Oak Orchard.
      • Orleans County
      • This Oak Orchard is located in Orleans County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km] to the north northwest of the Oak Orchard that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orleans County community of Oak Orchard.
    • Ontario
      • This Oak Orchard lies 350 miles [563.3 km]<2> to the north of the Oak Orchard that is located in Frederick County.
    • Wisconsin
      • Oconto County
      • This Oak Orchard is located in Oconto County and lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Oak Orchard that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconto County community of Oak Orchard.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Orchard ...

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.

  • Burrier Knob
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Burrier Knob is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrier Knob
  • Cover ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cover is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cover
  • Covers Corner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Covers Corner is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covers Corner
  • Fuller
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fuller is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
  • Grossnickle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Grossnickle is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grossnickle
  • Harvest Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Harvest Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvest Hills
  • Heise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Heise is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heise
  • Holler
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Holler is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holler
  • Liberty Knolls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Liberty Knolls is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Knolls
  • Libertytown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Mountain Vista
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Vista is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vista
  • New Horizons
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • New Horizons is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Horizons
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pipe Creek ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Pipe Creek is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipe Creek
    • Sams Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sams Creek is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Creek
    • Sun Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sun Valley is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Sun Valley Farms
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sun Valley Farms is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley Farms
    • Unionville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Unionville is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Walnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

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

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Oak Orchard to Frederick, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 50 miles [80.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 41 miles [66 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,877 miles [9,458.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,585 miles [10,597.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,461 miles [7,179.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Oak Orchard 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oak Orchard) 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 Oak Orchard 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 Oak Orchard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4918, Longitude: -77.1545       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Orchard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.92 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.566 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.533 degrees.