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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wilna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wilna and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Wilna:
    • 39.483441, -76.373849
    • 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 Wilna
  • 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 Wilna is near Baltimore County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Wilna

Communities Also Named Wilna ...

We found four communities that are also named Wilna.

Within Maryland, the name Wilna is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Mexico
      • Grant County
      • This Wilna is located in Grant County and lies 1,842 miles [2,964.4 km]<1> to the west of the Wilna that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Wilna.
    • New York
      • Jefferson 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 New York community of Wilna [Jefferson County].
    • Ohio
      • Williams County
      • This Wilna is located in Williams County and lies 445 miles [716.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Wilna that is located in Harford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Williams County community of Wilna.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Washington 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 Pennsylvania community of Wilna [Washington County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wilna ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Camelot is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Spring is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Spring
  • Dunwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Dunwood is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunwood
  • Evergreen Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Evergreen Heights is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Heights
  • Fox Bow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fox Bow is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Bow
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Green Springs Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Green Springs Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs Hills
  • Indian Princess
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Indian Princess is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Princess
  • Jerusalem
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jerusalem is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem
  • Jerusalem Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jerusalem Mills is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem Mills
  • Joppa Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Joppa Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Hills
  • Kingswood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Kingswood is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Locust Knoll
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Locust Knoll is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Knoll
    • Lynchs Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Lynchs Corner is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchs Corner
    • Mountain
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Mountain is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain
    • Pleasant Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • Silver Spring Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Singer
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Singer is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Singer
    • Stoneybrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Stoneybrook is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneybrook
    • Temple Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Temple Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hills
    • Valleybrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Valleybrook is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valleybrook

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

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

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Wilna to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 53 miles [85.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two 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 5,845 miles [9,406.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,551 miles [10,542.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,427 miles [7,124.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Wilna) 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 Wilna 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 Wilna 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 Wilna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4834, Longitude: -76.3738       In this case, the coordinates for Wilna have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.457 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.039 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.203 degrees.