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 ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shockeys
- 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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
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)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
- Beartown is located in Franklin County (PA)
- Browns Store ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browns Store have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Store
- Browns Store is located in Washington County
- Cascade
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Cavetown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavetown
- Cavetown is located in Washington County
- Chewsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chewsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewsville
- Chewsville is located in Washington County
- Flint
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Fountain Dale
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Dale
- Fountain Dale is located in Adams County (PA)
- Foxville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Gladhill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Greenvale Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenvale Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenvale Village
- Greenvale Village is located in Washington County
- Havenwood Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havenwood Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenwood Hills
- Havenwood Hills is located in Washington County
- Highfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Highfield - Cascade
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfield - Cascade
- Highfield - Cascade is located in Washington County
- Holiday Farms
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Farms
- Holiday Farms is located in Washington County
- Pondsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondsville
- Pondsville is located in Washington County
- Roadside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Rocky Forge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Forge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Forge
- Rocky Forge is located in Washington County
- Tomstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Highfield - Cascade
How Far From Shockeys to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs 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<3> community of Shockeys once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Shockeys and extending to:
- Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shockeys to Hagerstown, with an average speed<5> 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<6> 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).<7>
- 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).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,470 miles [7,193.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Washington County: www.washco-md.net/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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- Shockeys) to Point B.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> | 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 Shockeys 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 308.134 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.841 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.613 degrees. |