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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Relay, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Relay 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 Relay:
    • 39.227885, -76.703025
    • 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 Relay
  • 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 Relay is near Howard County and also Anne Arundel 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 Anne Arundel 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 Relay

Communities Also Named Relay ...

We found six communities that are also named Relay.

Within Maryland, the name Relay 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 ...
    • Florida
      • Flagler County
      • This Relay is located in Flagler County and lies 732 miles [1,178 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Relay that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Flagler County community of Relay.
    • Georgia
      • Floyd County
      • This Relay is located in Floyd County and lies 588 miles [946.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Relay that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Relay.
    • Iowa
      • Appanoose 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 Iowa community of Relay [Appanoose County].
    • Michigan
      • Menominee 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 Michigan community of Relay [Menominee County].
    • Ontario
      • This Relay lies 781 miles [1,256.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Relay that is located in Baltimore County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • York County
      • This Relay is located in York County and lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the north of the Relay that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Relay.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Relay ...

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.

  • Asylum ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Asylum is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asylum
  • Elkridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Elkridge Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Elkridge Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkridge Heights
  • English Consul
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • English Consul is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Consul
  • Grove Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Grove Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Ridge
  • Homeland Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Homeland Park is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland Park
  • Lawyers Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Lawyers Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers Hill
  • Lynnbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lynnbrook is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnbrook
  • Marble Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Marble Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Hill
  • Minersville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Minersville is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
  • Monumental
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Monumental is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monumental
  • Orange Grove ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Orange Grove is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Paradise
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Paradise is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
    • Quail Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Quail Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Ridge
    • Rockburn Commons
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rockburn Commons is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockburn Commons
    • Stony Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Stony Run is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Run
    • Thistle
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Thistle is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Timberview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Timberview is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberview
    • Twin Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
    • Violetville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Violetville is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Violetville
    • Woodlawn Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn Heights is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights

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

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

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Relay to Towson, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 20 miles [32.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,869 miles [9,445.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,575 miles [10,581.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,452 miles [7,164.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Relay) 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 Relay 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Relay 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 Relay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2279, Longitude: -76.7030       In this case, the coordinates for Relay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.671 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.241 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.445 degrees.