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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Orchard Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orchard Beach 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 Orchard Beach:
    • 39.170664, -76.526629
    • 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 Orchard Beach
  • 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 Anne Arundel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anne Arundel County
    • Since Orchard Beach 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 Orchard Beach

Communities Also Named Orchard Beach ...

We found five communities that are also named Orchard Beach.

Within Maryland, the name Orchard Beach is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Cheboygan County
      • This Orchard Beach is located in Cheboygan County and lies 598 miles [962.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Orchard Beach that is located in Anne Arundel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cheboygan County community of Orchard Beach.
      • Oakland County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Orchard Beach [Oakland County].
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This Orchard Beach is located in Erie County and lies 346 miles [556.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Orchard Beach that is located in Anne Arundel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Orchard Beach.
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Orchard Beach.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Erie County
      • This Orchard Beach is located in Erie County and lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Orchard Beach that is located in Anne Arundel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Orchard Beach.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orchard Beach ...

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.

  • Beauty Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Beauty Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauty Beach
  • Clear Water Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Clear Water Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Water Beach
  • Cottage Grove Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cottage Grove Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove Beach
  • Creek View
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Creek View is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek View
  • Elizabeths Landing
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Elizabeths Landing is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeths Landing
  • Fairhaven Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairhaven Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven Beach
  • Foremans Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Foremans Corner is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foremans Corner
  • Green Haven
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Haven is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Haven
  • Greenland Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Greenland Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland Beach
  • Greenlawn Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Greenlawn Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlawn Beach
  • Greenlawn Shores
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Greenlawn Shores is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlawn Shores
  • High Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • High Point is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Hillside Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Hillside Park is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Park
    • Lake View
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Lake View is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
    • Rock Creek Landing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Rock Creek Landing is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Landing
    • Rock Creek Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Rock Creek Park is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Park
    • Rock Hill Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rock Hill Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill Beach
    • Rockhill Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rockhill Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhill Beach
    • Rockview Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rockview Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockview Beach
    • Rockwood Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Rockwood Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood Beach
    • Sanders Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sanders Park is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Park
    • School Gardens
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • School Gardens is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for School Gardens
    • Silver Sands
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Sands is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Sands
    • Stonehaven
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Stonehaven is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonehaven
    • Stoney View
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stoney View is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney View
    • Stony Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Stony Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Beach
    • Sunset Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sunset Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Beach
    • Surfside
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Surfside is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surfside
    • View Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • View Point is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for View Point

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

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

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Orchard Beach to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 13 miles [20.9 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 33 miles [53.1 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 just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,864 miles [9,437.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,446 miles [7,155.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Orchard Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Orchard Beach 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.
<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 Orchard Beach 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 Orchard Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1707, Longitude: -76.5266       In this case, the coordinates for Orchard Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.57 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.118 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.393 degrees.