RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Harford County >> Swan Creek >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swan Creek, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swan Creek 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 Swan Creek:
    • 39.523167, -76.137452
    • 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 Swan Creek
  • 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 Harford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Since Swan Creek is near Cecil County and also Kent 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 Kent 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 Swan Creek

Communities Also Named Swan Creek ...

We found seven communities that are also named Swan Creek.

Within Maryland, the name Swan Creek is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Warren County
      • This Swan Creek is located in Warren County and lies 770 miles [1,239.2 km]<1> to the west of the Swan Creek that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Swan Creek.
    • Michigan
      • Monroe County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Swan Creek [Monroe County].
      • Saginaw County
      • This Swan Creek is located in Saginaw County and lies 489 miles [787 km]<1> to the northwest of the Swan Creek that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saginaw County community of Swan Creek.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Swan Creek lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Swan Creek that is located in Harford County.
    • North Carolina
      • Yadkin County
      • This Swan Creek is located in Yadkin County and lies 346 miles [556.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Swan Creek that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yadkin County community of Swan Creek.
    • Ohio
      • Gallia County
      • This Swan Creek is located in Gallia County and lies 331 miles [532.7 km]<1> to the west of the Swan Creek that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gallia County community of Swan Creek.
    • Utah
      • Rich County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Swan Creek [Rich County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swan Creek ...

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.

  • Chapel Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapel Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hills
  • Foxridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Foxridge is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxridge
  • Frenchtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Frenchtown is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
  • Grace Harbour
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Grace Harbour is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Harbour
  • Green Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Green Valley is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Hill Land
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hill Land is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Land
  • Hillside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillside is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Holly Haven
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Haven is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Haven
  • Level
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Level is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Meadowbrook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Meadowvale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Meadowvale is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowvale
    • Paradise Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Paradise Heights is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Heights
    • Perry Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Perry Point is located in Cecil County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry Point
    • Quaker Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Quaker Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Hills
    • Swan Meadows
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Swan Meadows is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Meadows

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

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

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Swan Creek to Bel Air, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 42 miles [67.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 64 miles [103 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 5,833 miles [9,387.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,539 miles [10,523.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,415 miles [7,105.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Swan Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Swan Creek 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.
<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 Swan Creek 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 Swan Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5232, Longitude: -76.1375       In this case, the coordinates for Swan Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.315 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.883 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.087 degrees.