Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gurley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gurley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gurley
- 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 Gurley:
- 34.700338, -86.375536
- 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 Gurley
- 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- Since Gurley is near Jackson County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Gurley ...
We found six communities that share the name Gurley.
There is one other community in Alabama which is also named Gurley.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gurley ...
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.
- Big Cove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Cedar Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
- Cedar Point is located in Madison County
- Cherrytree
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherrytree have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrytree
- Cherrytree is located in Madison County
- Dug Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Little Nashville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Nashville
- Little Nashville is located in Jackson County
- Maysville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
- Maysville is located in Madison County
- Moontown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Paint Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paint Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
- Paint Rock is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Poplar Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Ridge
- Poplar Ridge is located in Marshall County
- Sublett Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublett Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublett Mill
- Sublett Mill is located in Madison County
How Far From Gurley 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 town such as Gurley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Gurley and extending to:
- Huntsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Gurley to Huntsville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 160 miles [257.5 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 591 miles [951.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,477 miles [10,423.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,190 miles [11,571.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,065 miles [8,151.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gurley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Madison County: www.co.madison.al.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Gurley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gurley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7003, Longitude: -86.3755 |
| <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 Gurley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Gurley 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. |
| <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 Gurley 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 313.484 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.229 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.862 degrees. |