Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Erie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Erie and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Erie
- 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 Erie:
- 32.7154078, -85.8041249
- 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 Erie
- 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 Hale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hale County
- Since Erie is near Tallapoosa County and also Elmore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa County
- eBird sighting report for Elmore 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 Erie ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Erie.
Within Alabama, the name Erie is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another 24 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 24 communities, 22 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Erie lies 1,976 miles [3,180.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Lawrence County
- This Erie is located in Lawrence County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the north of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Erie.
- Miami County
- This Erie is located in Miami County and lies 558 miles [898 km] to the north of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami County community of Erie.
- Kansas
- Cowley 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 Erie [Cowley County].
- Neosho County
- This Erie is located in Neosho County and lies 629 miles [1,012.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neosho County community of Erie.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Becker 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 Minnesota community of Erie [Becker County].
- Pennington County
- This Erie is located in Pennington County and lies 1,179 miles [1,897.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pennington County community of Erie.
- Missouri
- Camden County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Camden County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Erie.
- McDonald County
- This Erie is located in McDonald County and lies 558 miles [898 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDonald County community of Erie.
- Nevada
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Kay 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 Oklahoma community of Erie [Kay County].
- Kingfisher County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Erie [Kingfisher County].
- Ontario
- This Erie lies 770 miles [1,239.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Erie that is located in Hale County.
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Erie ...
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
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- 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 southwest)- 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
- Mary
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Ponders
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Red Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Reeltown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeltown
- Reeltown is located in Tallapoosa County
- River Bend ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- 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
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- 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
- Still Waters
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- 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
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Walnut Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- 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 Erie 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 Erie 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 Erie once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Erie and extending to:
- Greensboro, which is the Seat of Hale County, lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<1> to the west. If you could drive a straight line from Erie to Greensboro, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 37 miles [59.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 650 miles [1,046.1 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,547 miles [10,536.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,250 miles [11,667.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,128 miles [8,252.7 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> | 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- Erie) to Point B. |
| <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 Erie 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 Erie, 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 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 Erie 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 313.033 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.432 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.075 degrees. |