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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in White Swan Lake, we use the following websites to find information relevant to White Swan Lake 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 White Swan Lake:
    • 39.515390, -75.781602
    • 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 White Swan Lake
  • 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 Cecil County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cecil County
    • Since White Swan Lake is near New Castle County and also Kent County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Castle 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 White Swan Lake

Curious and Interesting Names Near White Swan Lake ...

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.

  • Deer Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Deer Haven is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Haven
  • Elk
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elk is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
  • Elk Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Elk Ferry is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Ferry
  • Elk Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Elk Forest is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Forest
  • Elk Haven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elk Haven is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Haven
  • Elk River Basin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Elk River Basin is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Basin
  • Elkmore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkmore is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmore
  • Goose Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Goose Point is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Point
  • Harbor View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Harbor View is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Heritage Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Valley is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Valley
  • Little Jersey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Jersey is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Jersey
  • Mariners Cove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mariners Cove is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariners Cove
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Melody Meadows
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Melody Meadows is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melody Meadows
    • Mount Pleasant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Snow Hill ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Snow Hill is located in Cecil County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
    • Summit Bridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Summit Bridge is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Bridge
    • Sycamore Farms
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sycamore Farms is located in Cecil County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Farms

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in White Swan Lake and extending to:

  • Elkton, which is the Seat of Cecil County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from White Swan Lake to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 79 miles [127.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,818 miles [9,363.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,523 miles [10,497.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,400 miles [7,081.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- White Swan Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 White Swan Lake 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 White Swan Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5154, Longitude: -75.7816       In this case, the coordinates for White Swan Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.105 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.644 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.939 degrees.