RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Allegany County >> Spring Gap >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Spring Gap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Spring Gap 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 Spring Gap:
    • 39.565368, -78.716406
    • 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 Spring Gap
  • 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 Allegany County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegany County
    • Since Spring Gap is near Mineral County and also Hampshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mineral County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hampshire 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 Spring Gap

Communities Also Named Spring Gap ...

We found two communities that are also named Spring Gap.

Within Maryland, the name Spring Gap is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Tuolumne County
      • This Spring Gap is located in Tuolumne County and lies 2,207 miles [3,551.8 km]<1> to the west of the Spring Gap that is located in Allegany County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuolumne County community of Spring Gap.
    • West Virginia
      • Hampshire County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Spring Gap [Hampshire County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Spring Gap ...

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.

  • Bowling Green
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bowling Green is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowling Green
  • Brady
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Brady is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
  • Cedar Cliff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Cliff is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cliff
  • Dans Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Dans Run is located in Mineral County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dans Run
  • Frost ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Frost is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
  • Green Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Spring is located in Hampshire County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring
  • Knobmount
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Knobmount is located in Mineral County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobmount
  • Mexico
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mexico is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
  • Pleasant Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Shanty Town ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Shanty Town is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanty Town
  • Short Gap
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Short Gap is located in Mineral County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Gap
  • Triple Lakes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Triple Lakes is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triple Lakes
  • Twiggtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Twiggtown is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twiggtown

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

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

  • Cumberland, which is the Seat of Allegany County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Spring Gap to Annapolis, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 100 miles [160.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,939 miles [9,557.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,651 miles [10,703.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,527 miles [7,285.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spring Gap) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Spring Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Spring Gap 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 Spring Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5654, Longitude: -78.7164       In this case, the coordinates for Spring Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.852 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.635 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.18 degrees.