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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rawlings, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rawlings 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 Rawlings:
    • 39.537150, -78.880953
    • 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 Rawlings
  • 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 Allegany County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany County
    • Since Rawlings is near Mineral County and also Garrett County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Garrett 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 Rawlings

Communities Also Named Rawlings ...

We found one communities that are also named Rawlings.

Within Maryland, the name Rawlings is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Virginia
      • Brunswick County
      • This Rawlings is located in Brunswick County and lies 188 miles [302.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Rawlings that is located in Allegany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brunswick County community of Rawlings.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rawlings ...

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.

  • Black Oak
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Black Oak is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
  • Borden Shaft
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Brady
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cedar Cliff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Cliff is located in Mineral County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cliff
  • Danville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Danville is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
  • Frost ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Frost is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
  • Horseshoe Curve
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Horseshoe Curve is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Curve
  • Moscow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • National
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • National is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National
  • Ocean
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Porters ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Porters is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters
  • Short Gap
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Triple Lakes
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Triple Lakes is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triple Lakes

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

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

  • Cumberland, which is the Seat of Allegany County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rawlings to Cumberland, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 133 miles [214 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 108 miles [173.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,947 miles [9,570.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,659 miles [10,716.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,535 miles [7,298.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Rawlings) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Rawlings 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 Rawlings. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5371, Longitude: -78.8810       In this case, the coordinates for Rawlings have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.953 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.745 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.262 degrees.