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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shockeys, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shockeys 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 Shockeys:
    • 39.708984, -77.535824
    • 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 Shockeys
  • 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 Shockeys 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 Shockeys

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shockeys ...

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.

  • Beartown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Beartown is located in Franklin County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
  • Browns Store ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Browns Store is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Store
  • Cascade
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cascade is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Cavetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cavetown is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavetown
  • Chewsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Chewsville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewsville
  • Flint
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Flint is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Fountain Dale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fountain Dale is located in Adams County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
  • Foxville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Foxville is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxville
  • Gladhill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gladhill is located in Adams County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladhill
  • Greenvale Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenvale Village is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenvale Village
  • Havenwood Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Havenwood Hills is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenwood Hills
  • Highfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Highfield is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Highfield - Cascade
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Highfield - Cascade is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield - Cascade
    • Holiday Farms
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Holiday Farms is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Farms
    • Pondsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pondsville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondsville
    • Roadside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Roadside is located in Franklin County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roadside
    • Rocky Forge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Rocky Forge is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Forge
    • Tomstown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Tomstown is located in Franklin County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomstown

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Shockeys once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Shockeys and extending to:

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shockeys to Hagerstown, with an average speed<3> 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 75 miles [120.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 62 miles [99.8 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 5,884 miles [9,469.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,470 miles [7,193.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Shockeys, 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' (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- Shockeys) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shockeys 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 Shockeys. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7090, Longitude: -77.5358       In this case, the coordinates for Shockeys have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.134 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.841 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.613 degrees.