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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sassafras, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sassafras 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 Sassafras:
    • 39.373275, -75.802436
    • 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 Sassafras
  • 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 Kent County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kent County
    • Since Sassafras is near Cecil County and also New Castle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cecil County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Castle 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 Sassafras

Communities Also Named Sassafras ...

We found five communities that are also named Sassafras.

Within Maryland, the name Sassafras is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Arkansas County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sassafras [Arkansas County].
    • Indiana
      • Perry County
      • This Sassafras is located in Perry County and lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<2> to the west of the Sassafras that is located in Kent County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Sassafras.
    • Kentucky
      • Knott County
      • This Sassafras is located in Knott County and lies 420 miles [675.9 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Sassafras that is located in Kent County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knott County community of Sassafras.
    • Virginia
      • Gloucester County
      • This Sassafras is located in Gloucester County and lies 142 miles [228.5 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Sassafras that is located in Kent County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gloucester County community of Sassafras.
    • West Virginia
      • Mason County
      • This Sassafras is located in Mason County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<2> to the west of the Sassafras that is located in Kent County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mason County community of Sassafras.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sassafras ...

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.

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

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

  • Chestertown, which is the Seat of Kent County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sassafras to Chestertown, with an average speed<4> 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 45 miles [72.4 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 73 miles [117.5 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,825 miles [9,374.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,529 miles [10,507.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,406 miles [7,090.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Sassafras, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Sassafras) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Sassafras 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 Sassafras. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3733, Longitude: -75.8024    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.129 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.649 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.006 degrees.