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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Portland Station, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portland Station 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 Portland Station:
    • 39.093720, -76.765248
    • 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 Portland Station
  • 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 Portland Station is near Howard County and also Prince George's County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Portland Station

Communities Also Named Portland Station ...

We found one communities that are also named Portland Station.

Within Maryland, the name Portland Station is unique.

Beyond Maryland, there is another community also named Portland Station in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Jefferson 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 Ohio community of Portland Station [Jefferson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Portland Station ...

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.

  • Admiral ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Admiral is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Admiral
  • Bridewell ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bridewell is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridewell
  • Champion Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Champion Forest is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion Forest
  • Chase Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Chase Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Hill
  • Colony Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Colony Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Ridge
  • Fox Rest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fox Rest is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Rest
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Georgetown is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Hidden Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hidden Village is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Village
  • Howard Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard Hills is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Hills
  • Jessup
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Kings Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kings Heights is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Heights
  • Kings Ransom
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kings Ransom is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Ransom
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Lake Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
    • Lions Gate
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Lions Gate is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lions Gate
    • Magnolia ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Magnolia is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Maple Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Maple Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
    • Mistletoe Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Mistletoe Springs is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistletoe Springs
    • Mistwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Mistwood is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistwood
    • Pheasant Run
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pheasant Run is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Run
    • Piney Orchard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Piney Orchard is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Orchard
    • Pioneer City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Pioneer City is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer City
    • Provinces
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Provinces is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Provinces
    • Redbridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Redbridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbridge
    • River Island
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • River Island is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Island
    • Sandridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandridge
    • Savage
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Settlers Landing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Settlers Landing is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Landing
    • Seven Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
    • Spring Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Meadows is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Meadows
    • Springwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Springwood is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
    • Stillmeadow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stillmeadow is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillmeadow
    • Stoney Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Stoney Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Hill
    • Strawberry Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Strawberry Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Hills

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Portland Station once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Portland Station and extending to:

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Portland Station to Annapolis, with an average speed<5> 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 16 miles [25.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,878 miles [9,459.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,583 miles [10,594.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Portland Station 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 Portland Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Portland Station) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<5>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.
<6>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 Portland Station 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 Portland Station. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0937, Longitude: -76.7652       In this case, the coordinates for Portland Station have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.716 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.272 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.524 degrees.