Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Benson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Benson
- 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 Benson:
- 32.764024, -85.876775
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Benson
- 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 Tallapoosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa County
- Since Benson is near Elmore County and also Hale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Elmore County
- eBird sighting report for Hale 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Benson ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Benson.
There are two communities within Alabama that are also named Benson.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 26 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Chilton County
- Etowah County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Harford County
- This Benson is located in Harford County and lies 704 miles [1,133 km]<3> to the northeast of the Benson that is located in Tallapoosa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Benson.
- Howard County
- This Benson is located in Howard County and lies 670 miles [1,078.3 km] to the northeast of the Benson that is located in Tallapoosa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Benson.
- Michigan
- Oakland 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 Michigan community of Benson [Oakland County].
- Wexford County
- This Benson is located in Wexford County and lies 790 miles [1,271.4 km]<3> to the north of the Benson that is located in Tallapoosa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wexford County community of Benson.
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Benson lies 1,450 miles [2,333.5 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Benson that is located in Tallapoosa County.
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Benson ...
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.
- Cherokee Bluffs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Bluffs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Bluffs
- Cherokee Bluffs is located in Tallapoosa County
- Double Bridges Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Double Bridges Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Bridges Ferry
- Double Bridges Ferry is located in Tallapoosa County
- Erie ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Erie is located in Hale County
- Island Home
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island Home have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Home
- Island Home is located in Tallapoosa County
- Our Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Our Town
- Our Town is located in Tallapoosa County
- Piney Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piney Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Point
- Piney Point is located in Tallapoosa County
- Red Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - River Bend ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
- River Bend is located in Tallapoosa County
- Robinson Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robinson Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Ferry
- Robinson Ferry is located in Elmore County
- Rover
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Still Waters
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Still Waters have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Waters
- Still Waters is located in Tallapoosa County
- Union
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Walnut Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Walnut Hill is located in Tallapoosa County
How Far From Benson 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 Benson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Benson once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Benson and extending to:
- Dadeville, which is the Seat of Tallapoosa County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<3> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Benson to Montgomery, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over 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 650 miles [1,046.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,548 miles [10,538 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,251 miles [11,669.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,129 miles [8,254.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
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 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 Benson 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Benson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Benson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7640, Longitude: -85.8768 In this case, the coordinates for Benson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Benson to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.078 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.492 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.092 degrees. |