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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Reid, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Reid 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 Reid:
    • 39.712317, -77.679159
    • 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 Reid
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Reid is near Franklin County and also Frederick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick 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 Reid

Communities Also Named Reid ...

We found nine communities that are also named Reid.

Within Maryland, the name Reid is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Limestone County
      • This Reid is located in Limestone County and lies 617 miles [993 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Reid that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Limestone County community of Reid.
    • Kentucky
      • Grant 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 Kentucky community of Reid [Grant County].
    • Mississippi
      • Calhoun County
      • This Reid is located in Calhoun County and lies 747 miles [1,202.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Reid that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Reid.
    • New Mexico
      • Valencia 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 New Mexico community of Reid [Valencia County].
    • North Carolina
      • Transylvania County
      • This Reid is located in Transylvania County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Reid that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Transylvania County community of Reid.
    • Nova Scotia
      • 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 Nova Scotia community of Reid.
    • South Carolina
      • Clarendon 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 South Carolina community of Reid [Clarendon County].
      • Greenville County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Reid [Greenville County].
    • West Virginia
      • Cabell County
      • This Reid is located in Cabell County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Reid that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cabell County community of Reid.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Reid ...

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.

  • Clearview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Clearview is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Countryside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Countryside is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
  • Fiddlesburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fiddlesburg is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiddlesburg
  • Fountain Head
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain Head is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Head
  • Gardenspot
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gardenspot is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardenspot
  • Hunter Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hunter Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Hill
  • Long Meadow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Meadow is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Meadow
  • Mason and Dixon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Mason and Dixon is located in Franklin County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason and Dixon
  • Orchard Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Orchard Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
  • Paramount
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Paramount is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
  • Rocky Forge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Rocky Forge is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Forge
  • Security
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Security is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Security
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Shady Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Shady Grove is located in Franklin County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Spring Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Spring Valley is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Terrace Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Terrace Hills is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrace Hills
    • Wood Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Wood Point is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Point

How Far From Reid to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Reid to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Reid to Annapolis, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 65 miles [104.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full 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 5,890 miles [9,479 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,476 miles [7,203.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Reid) 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 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 Reid 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 Reid 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 Reid. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7123, Longitude: -77.6792       In this case, the coordinates for Reid have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.219 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.939 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.674 degrees.