Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lyon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lyon and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lyon
- 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 Lyon:
- 32.365139, -87.543614
- 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 Lyon
- 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 Marengo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marengo County
- Since Lyon is near Perry County and also Wilcox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Perry County
- eBird sighting report for Wilcox 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 Lyon ...
We found seven communities that share the name Lyon.
Within Alabama, the name Lyon is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Clinton 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 Missouri community of Lyon [Clinton County].
- Franklin County
- This Lyon is located in Franklin County and lies 470 miles [756.4 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Lyon that is located in Marengo County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Lyon.
- Nebraska
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lyon ...
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.
- Alberta
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Donald
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast) - Freetown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freetown
- Freetown is located in Perry County
- Half Chance
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Half Chance have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Chance
- Half Chance is located in Marengo County
- Hillcrest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Hugo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Kings ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Laneville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Rabbityard
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rabbityard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbityard
- Rabbityard is located in Perry County
- Trinity
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Uniontown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Uniontown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Uniontown is located in Perry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,150 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Uniontown <5>
How Far From Lyon 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 Lyon 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 Lyon once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Lyon and extending to:
- Linden, which is the Seat of Marengo County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Lyon to Linden, 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 four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 741 miles [1,192.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,637 miles [10,681.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,344 miles [11,819 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,221 miles [8,402.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Lyon 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> | 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- Lyon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lyon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3651, Longitude: -87.5436 In this case, the coordinates for Lyon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Lyon, 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 Lyon 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 314.041 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.551 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.826 degrees. |