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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Parkton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parkton and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Parkton:
    • 39.643119, -76.658323
    • 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 Parkton
  • 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 Parkton is near Harford County and also York County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York 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 Parkton

Communities Also Named Parkton ...

We found two communities that are also named Parkton.

Within Maryland, the name Parkton is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Otter Tail 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 Minnesota community of Parkton [Otter Tail County].
    • North Carolina
      • Robeson County
      • This Parkton is located in Robeson County and lies 351 miles [564.9 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Parkton that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Robeson County community of Parkton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Parkton ...

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.

  • Beetree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Beetree is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beetree
  • Brandy Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Brandy Springs is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Springs
  • Coachmans Field
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Coachmans Field is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coachmans Field
  • Five Forks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Five Forks is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Gores Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gores Mill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gores Mill
  • Graystone
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Graystone is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graystone
  • Hamlet Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hamlet Farms is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet Farms
  • Hope Meadows
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hope Meadows is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Meadows
  • Hunters Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hunters Mill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Mill
  • Spook Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Spook Hill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spook Hill
  • Valley Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Valley Mill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mill
  • Windtree Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Windtree Valley is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windtree Valley

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

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

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Parkton to Towson, 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 five to six hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 46 miles [74 km] to the south (S). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 55 miles [88.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving 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 5,850 miles [9,414.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,434 miles [7,135.8 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 Parkton 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Parkton) 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 Parkton 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 Parkton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6431, Longitude: -76.6583    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.614 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.242 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.261 degrees.