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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pine Orchard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pine Orchard 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 Pine Orchard:
    • 39.277606, -76.861086
    • 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 Pine Orchard
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Pine Orchard is near Baltimore County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Pine Orchard

Communities Also Named Pine Orchard ...

We found six communities that are also named Pine Orchard.

Within Maryland, the name Pine Orchard is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Monroe County
      • This Pine Orchard is located in Monroe County and lies 781 miles [1,256.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Pine Orchard that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Pine Orchard.
      • Saint Clair County
      • This Pine Orchard is located in Saint Clair County and lies 654 miles [1,052.5 km] to the southwest of the Pine Orchard that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Pine Orchard.
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven County
      • This Pine Orchard is located in New Haven County and lies 255 miles [410.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Pine Orchard that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Haven County community of Pine Orchard.
    • Florida
      • Escambia 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 Florida community of Pine Orchard [Escambia County].
    • Ontario
      • This Pine Orchard lies 354 miles [569.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Pine Orchard that is located in Howard County.
    • Tennessee
      • Morgan County
      • This Pine Orchard is located in Morgan County and lies 483 miles [777.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Pine Orchard that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Pine Orchard.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pine Orchard ...

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.

  • Chapelview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Chapelview is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapelview
  • Chestnut Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Farms
  • Chestnut Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Daniels ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Daniels is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels
    • Former names for Daniels:
    • Alberton
    • Elsyville
  • Farside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Farside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farside
  • Fox Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fox Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hill
  • Gray Rock
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Gray Rock is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock
  • Gray Rock Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Gray Rock Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Rock Farms
  • Green Henge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Green Henge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Henge
  • Hilltop
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hilltop is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Howard Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Howard Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Heights
  • Ivy Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Ivy Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hill
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Locust Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Locust Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Ridge
    • Longfellow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Longfellow is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longfellow
    • Maplewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Maplewood is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Rockland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rockland is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Rolling Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rolling Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
    • Running Brook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Running Brook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Sandy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Sandy Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hill
    • Sky View
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sky View is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky View
    • Thornbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Thornbrook is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornbrook
    • Thunder Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Thunder Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Hill
    • Toll House
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Toll House is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toll House
    • Vantage Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Vantage Point is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage Point
    • Wheatfield Way
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wheatfield Way is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield Way

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

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Pine Orchard 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,874 miles [9,453.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,457 miles [7,172.8 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pine Orchard) 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 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 Pine Orchard 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 Pine Orchard 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 Pine Orchard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2776, Longitude: -76.8611       In this case, the coordinates for Pine Orchard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.761 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.351 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.492 degrees.