RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Harford County >> Old Fields >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Fields, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Fields 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 Old Fields:
    • 39.549829, -76.355238
    • 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 Old Fields
  • 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 Harford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Since Old Fields is near Montgomery County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Old Fields

Communities Also Named Old Fields ...

We found two communities that are also named Old Fields.

Within Maryland, the name Old Fields is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Mitchell 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 Old Fields [Mitchell County].
    • West Virginia
      • Hardy County
      • This Old Fields is located in Hardy County and lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<2> to the west of the Old Fields that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardy County community of Old Fields.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Fields ...

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.

  • Big Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Big Woods is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods
  • Cedarwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cedarwood is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarwood
  • Forest Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Forest Lake is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
  • Forest Lawn
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Lawn is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lawn
  • Fountain Glen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fountain Glen is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Glen
  • Fountain Green
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fountain Green is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Green
  • Fox Bow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fox Bow is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Bow
  • Frogtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Frogtown is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
  • Green Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Green Ridge is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
  • Heritage Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Heritage Woods is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Woods
  • Hickory
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hickory is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
  • Hickory Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Hill-N-Dale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Hill-N-Dale is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill-N-Dale
    • Hillview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Hillview is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
    • Homestead Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Homestead Village is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead Village
    • Howard Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Howard Park is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Park
    • Joppa Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Joppa Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Hills
    • Locust Knoll
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Locust Knoll is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Knoll
    • Longmeadow
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Longmeadow is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
    • Majors Choice
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Majors Choice is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majors Choice
    • Marywood
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Marywood is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marywood
    • Michaels Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Michaels Meadows is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaels Meadows
    • Moorland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Moorland is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland
    • Parliament Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Parliament Ridge is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parliament Ridge
    • Pine Crest
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Pine Crest is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
    • Rock Spring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock Spring is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Spring
    • Scots Fancy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Scots Fancy is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scots Fancy
    • Shamrock
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Shamrock is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Silver Spring Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Winters Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Winters Run is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters Run

How Far From Old Fields 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 Old Fields to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Old Fields to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 57 miles [91.7 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 over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,841 miles [9,400.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,547 miles [10,536.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,424 miles [7,119.7 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Old Fields 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old Fields) 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 Old Fields 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 Old Fields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5498, Longitude: -76.3552       In this case, the coordinates for Old Fields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.441 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.031 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.169 degrees.