Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ritter, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ritter and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ritter
- 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 Ritter:
- 39.463991, -77.119982
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Ritter
- 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Frederick County
- Since Ritter is near Carroll County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- eBird sighting report for Howard 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Ritter ...
We found six communities that share the name Ritter.
Within Maryland, the name Ritter is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ritter ...
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.
- Cover ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Covers Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covers Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covers Corner
- Covers Corner is located in Carroll County
- Fuller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Harvest Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvest Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvest Hills
- Harvest Hills is located in Frederick County
- Holler
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Mountain Vista
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vista
- Mountain Vista is located in Carroll County
- New Horizons
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Horizons have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Horizons
- New Horizons is located in Carroll County
- Sams Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sams Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Creek
- Sams Creek is located in Frederick County
- Sun Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Carroll County
- Sun Valley Farms
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley Farms
- Sun Valley Farms is located in Carroll County
- Timber Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
- Timber Ridge is located in Carroll County
- Unionville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Frederick County
How Far From Ritter 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 Ritter to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ritter and extending to:
- Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ritter to Frederick, 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 four to five hours.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 39 miles [62.8 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,877 miles [9,458.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,585 miles [10,597.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,461 miles [7,179.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ritter. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Frederick County: www.co.frederick.md.us/
The official website for State of Maryland: https://www.maryland.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ritter) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ritter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4640, Longitude: -77.1200 In this case, the coordinates for Ritter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Ritter, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ritter 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. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Ritter to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.902 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.54 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.529 degrees. |