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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Washington Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Washington Junction 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 Washington Junction:
    • 39.272602, -77.531654
    • 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 Washington Junction
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Washington Junction is near Loudoun County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Washington Junction

Communities Also Named Washington Junction ...

We found three communities that are also named Washington Junction.

Within Maryland, the name Washington Junction is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Tazewell 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 Illinois community of Washington Junction [Tazewell County].
    • Maine
      • Hancock County
      • This Washington Junction is located in Hancock County and lies 594 miles [956 km]<2> to the northeast of the Washington Junction that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Washington Junction.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Washington Junction is located in Allegheny County and lies 151 miles [243 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Washington Junction that is located in Frederick County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Washington Junction.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Washington Junction ...

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.

  • Boss Arnold Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Boss Arnold Village is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boss Arnold Village
  • Furnace Mountain
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Furnace Mountain is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Mountain
  • Greenfield Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Greenfield Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
  • Loyalty
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Loyalty is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalty
  • Manor Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Manor Village is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Village
  • Merry Midnight
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Merry Midnight is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Midnight
  • Olive
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Olive is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Pleasant View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant View is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Poplar Thicket
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Poplar Thicket is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Thicket
  • Potomac Overlook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Potomac Overlook is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac Overlook
  • Rock Hall
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Rock Hall is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hall
  • Scattersville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Scattersville is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattersville
  • Stumptown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Stumptown is located in Loudoun County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stumptown
  • Sunrise
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunrise is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise

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

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Washington Junction to Frederick, 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 59 miles [95 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 37 miles [59.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,610 miles [10,637.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,486 miles [7,219.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Washington Junction 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 '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- Washington Junction) 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 Washington Junction 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 Washington Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2726, Longitude: -77.5317       In this case, the coordinates for Washington Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.159 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.803 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.78 degrees.