RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Schuylkill County >> Mary-D >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mary-D, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mary-D 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 Mary-D:
    • 40.760089, -76.056044
    • 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 Mary-D
  • 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 Schuylkill County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuylkill County
    • Since Mary-D is near Carbon County and also Berks County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carbon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berks 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 Mary-D

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mary-D ...

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.

  • Bear Run Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bear Run Junction is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Run Junction
  • Boston Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Boston Run is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Run
  • Chain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Chain is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain
  • Craigs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Craigs is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs
  • Dark Water
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Dark Water is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dark Water
  • Ellen Gowan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Ellen Gowan is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellen Gowan
  • Frisbie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Frisbie is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisbie
  • Hills Terrace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hills Terrace is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Terrace
  • Hometown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hometown is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hometown
  • Locust Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Locust Valley is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Valley
  • Lofty
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
  • Lorraine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lorraine is located in Schuylkill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorraine
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Maple Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Maple Hill is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
    • New Philadelphia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Pine Junction is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Junction
    • Shoemakers
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Shoemakers is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemakers
    • Silver Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Creek is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
    • Still Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Still Creek is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Creek
    • Vulcan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Vulcan is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan

How Far From Mary-D 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 Mary-D to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Mary-D and extending to:

  • Pottsville, which is the Seat of Schuylkill County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Mary-D to Harrisburg, with an average speed<3> 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 138 miles [222.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,778 miles [9,298.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,489 miles [10,443 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,364 miles [7,023.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mary-D) 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 Mary-D 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 Mary-D. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7601, Longitude: -76.0560       In this case, the coordinates for Mary-D have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.164 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.907 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.541 degrees.