Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Columbus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Columbus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Columbus
- 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 Columbus:
- 33.758157, -86.753326
- 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 Columbus
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Columbus is near Blount County and also Walker County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- eBird sighting report for Walker 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 Columbus ...
We found 33 communities that share the name Columbus.
Within Alabama, the name Columbus is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another 33 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 33 communities, 32 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Adams County
- This Columbus is located in Adams County and lies 493 miles [793.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Columbus that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Columbus.
- Scott County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Columbus [Scott County].
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Cherokee County
- This Columbus is located in Cherokee County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Columbus that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Columbus.
- Doniphan County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Doniphan County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Doniphan County community of Columbus.
- Kentucky
- Fayette County
- This Columbus is located in Fayette County and lies 324 miles [521.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Columbus that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Columbus.
- Hickman County
- This Columbus is located in Hickman County and lies 245 miles [394.3 km] to the north northwest of the Columbus that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hickman County community of Columbus.
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- Luna County
- This Columbus is located in Luna County and lies 1,217 miles [1,958.6 km]<1> to the west of the Columbus that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luna County community of Columbus.
- Taos 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 Mexico community of Columbus [Taos County].
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Columbus ...
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.
- Brake Ferry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brake Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brake Ferry
- Brake Ferry is located in Jefferson County
- Coaldale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - County Line
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Kiowa
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Majestic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Self Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Self Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Self Creek
- Self Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Selfville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Sueann
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Thermal ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Village Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs
- Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
- Warrior
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrior have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrior
- Warrior is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,190 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warrior <5>
How Far From Columbus 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 Columbus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Columbus and extending to:
- Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Columbus to Birmingham, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 98 miles [157.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 646 miles [1,039.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,538 miles [10,521.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,247 miles [11,662.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,124 miles [8,246.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Columbus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffcointouch.com/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Columbus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Columbus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7582, Longitude: -86.7533 In this case, the coordinates for Columbus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Columbus 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> | 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 Columbus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Columbus to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.661 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.303 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.225 degrees. |