RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Cumberland County >> Gorham >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gorham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gorham 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 Gorham:
    • 43.679524, -70.444219
    • 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 Gorham
  • 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 Cumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
    • Since Gorham is near York County and also Oxford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oxford 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 Gorham

Communities Also Named Gorham ...

We found seven communities that are also named Gorham.

Within Maine, the name Gorham is unique.

Beyond Maine, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Jackson County
      • This Gorham is located in Jackson County and lies 1,075 miles [1,730 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Gorham that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Gorham.
    • Kansas
      • Labette 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 Kansas community of Gorham [Labette County].
      • Russell County
      • This Gorham is located in Russell County and lies 1,511 miles [2,431.7 km]<1> to the west of the Gorham that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Russell County community of Gorham.
    • Michigan
      • Osceola 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 Gorham [Osceola County].
    • New Hampshire
      • Coos County
      • This Gorham is located in Coos County and lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Gorham that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coos County community of Gorham.
    • New York
      • Ontario County
      • This Gorham is located in Ontario County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the west of the Gorham that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontario County community of Gorham.
    • North Dakota
      • Billings County
      • This Gorham is located in Billings County and lies 1,598 miles [2,571.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Gorham that is located in Cumberland County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Billings County community of Gorham.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gorham ...

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.

  • Chicopee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Chicopee is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
  • Crocketts Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Crocketts Corner is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crocketts Corner
  • Danish Village ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Danish Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danish Village
  • Dog Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Dog Corner is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Corner
  • Gag Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Gag Corner is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gag Corner
  • Groveville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Groveville is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveville
  • Grubb Hill ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Grubb Hill is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grubb Hill
  • Little Falls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Little Falls is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls
  • Lone Creek Village ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Creek Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Creek Village
  • Popeville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Popeville is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popeville
  • Prides Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Prides Corner is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prides Corner
  • Roberts Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Roberts Corner is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Corner
  • Salmon Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Salmon Falls is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon Falls
  • Sunset Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset Park is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Park

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

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

  • Portland, which is the Seat of Cumberland County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Gorham to Portland, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 54 miles [86.9 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 475 miles [764.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,427 miles [8,733.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,139 miles [9,879.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,014 miles [6,459.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gorham) 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 Gorham 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 Gorham 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 Gorham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6795, Longitude: -70.4442       In this case, the coordinates for Gorham have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.393 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.142 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 299.593 degrees.