RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Baltimore County >> Villa Nova >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Villa Nova, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Villa Nova 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 Villa Nova:
    • 39.351495, -76.733584
    • 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 Villa Nova
  • 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 Baltimore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Since Villa Nova is near Baltimore City and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Villa Nova

Communities Also Named Villa Nova ...

We found four communities that are also named Villa Nova.

Within Maryland, the name Villa Nova is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Orange County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Villa Nova [Orange County].
    • Ohio
      • Auglaize County
      • This Villa Nova is located in Auglaize County and lies 415 miles [667.9 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Villa Nova that is located in Baltimore County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Auglaize County community of Villa Nova.
    • Ontario
      • This Villa Nova lies 306 miles [492.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Villa Nova that is located in Baltimore County.
    • West Virginia
      • Clay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Villa Nova [Clay County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Villa Nova ...

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.

  • Colonial Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Colonial Village is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Dickeyville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickeyville is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickeyville
  • Euclid Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Euclid Heights is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid Heights
  • Featherbed
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Featherbed is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Featherbed
  • Fields of Stevenson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fields of Stevenson is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields of Stevenson
  • Fishtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fishtown is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishtown
  • Greene Tree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Greene Tree is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene Tree
  • Grey Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Grey Rock is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Rock
  • Heraldry Square
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Heraldry Square is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heraldry Square
  • Howard Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Howard Park is located in Baltimore City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Park
  • Howardsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Howardsville is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardsville
  • Imperial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Imperial Gardens is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial Gardens
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Julian Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Julian Woods is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julian Woods
    • Kingswood Common
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Kingswood Common is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood Common
    • Liberty Manor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Liberty Manor is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Manor
    • Merrymount
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Merrymount is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrymount
    • Mount Hope
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Mount Hope is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Pickwick
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pickwick is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
    • Pikesville
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Rolling Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rolling Heights is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Heights
    • Rolling Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Rolling Park is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Park
    • Rolling Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Rolling Ridge is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
    • Willow Glen
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Willow Glen is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Woodlawn is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Villa Nova to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Villa Nova to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Villa Nova to Annapolis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 35 miles [56.3 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 most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,865 miles [9,438.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,572 miles [10,576.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,448 miles [7,158.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Villa Nova 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.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Villa Nova) 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 Villa Nova 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 Villa Nova. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3515, Longitude: -76.7336       In this case, the coordinates for Villa Nova have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.68 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.271 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.409 degrees.