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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oak Summit, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oak Summit 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 Summit:
    • 39.394829, -76.514687
    • 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 Summit
  • 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 Baltimore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Since Oak Summit is near Baltimore City and also Harford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford 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 Summit

Communities Also Named Oak Summit ...

We found three communities that are also named Oak Summit.

Within Maryland, the name Oak Summit is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Dutchess 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 New York community of Oak Summit [Dutchess County].
    • North Carolina
      • Forsyth 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 North Carolina community of Oak Summit [Forsyth County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Montgomery County
      • This Oak Summit is located in Montgomery County and lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<2> to the northeast of the Oak Summit that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Oak Summit.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Summit ...

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.

  • Apple Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Apple Ridge is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Ridge
  • Chapel Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Chapel Valley is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Valley
  • Coventry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Coventry is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Cowpen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Cowpen is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpen
  • Cub Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cub Hill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cub Hill
  • Cub Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cub Hills is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cub Hills
  • Evergreen
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Evergreen is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Harmony Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Harmony Hills is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Hills
  • Hillendale Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hillendale Farms is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillendale Farms
  • Hillendale Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hillendale Park is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillendale Park
  • Hunting Lodge
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hunting Lodge is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Lodge
  • Joppa Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Joppa Heights is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Heights
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Joppa Vale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Joppa Vale is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Vale
    • Joppa View
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Joppa View is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa View
    • Kings Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Kings Ridge is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Ridge
    • Necker
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Necker is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necker
    • Pine Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Putty Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Putty Hill is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putty Hill
    • Ridge Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Ridge Grove is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Grove
    • Silver Meadow
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Silver Meadow is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Meadow
    • Silver Spring Station
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Silver Spring Station is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Spring Station
    • Summer Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Summer Hill is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill

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

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

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies just to the West.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Oak Summit 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 44 miles [70.8 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,854 miles [9,421.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,560 miles [10,557.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,437 miles [7,140.7 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Summit 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Summit) 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 Summit 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 Summit. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3948, Longitude: -76.5147       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Summit have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.547 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.127 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.299 degrees.