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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Orchard Place, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orchard Place 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 Place:
    • 39.136774, -77.228315
    • 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 Place
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Orchard Place is near Fairfax County and also Loudoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun 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 Orchard Place

Communities Also Named Orchard Place ...

We found three communities that are also named Orchard Place.

Within Maryland, the name Orchard Place is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Cook County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Orchard Place.
    • New Mexico
      • Cibola County
      • This Orchard Place is located in Cibola County and lies 1,689 miles [2,718.2 km]<2> to the west of the Orchard Place that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cibola County community of Orchard Place.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Orchard Place is located in Davis County and lies 1,824 miles [2,935.4 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Orchard Place that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Orchard Place.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Orchard Place ...

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.

  • Ancient Oak
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Ancient Oak is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oak
  • Brown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Brown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Clopper
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Clopper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopper
  • Coventry
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Coventry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Diamond Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Diamond Farms is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Farms
  • Fox Chapel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fox Chapel is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Chapel
  • Hunting Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunting Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hill
  • Log Town ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Log Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
  • Londonderry
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Londonderry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Londonderry
  • Longdraft
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Longdraft is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdraft
  • Nathans Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Nathans Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathans Hill
  • Observatory Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Observatory Heights is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Observatory Heights
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Orchard Pond
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Orchard Pond is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Pond
    • Parkridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Parkridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkridge
    • Pleasant Fields
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Fields is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Fields
    • Pleasant Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
    • Quail Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Quail Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Quail Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Quail Valley is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Valley
    • Walnut Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Whetstone
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Whetstone is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetstone
    • Willow Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Willow Ridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Ridge

How Far From Orchard Place to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs 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 Place to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Orchard Place 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 19 miles [30.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,895 miles [9,487.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,602 miles [10,624.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,478 miles [7,206.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Orchard Place, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Orchard Place) 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 Orchard Place 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 Place. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1368, Longitude: -77.2283       In this case, the coordinates for Orchard Place have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.987 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.587 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.703 degrees.