Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melvin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melvin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melvin
- 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 Melvin:
- 31.930430, -88.458918
- 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 Melvin
- 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 Choctaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
- Since Melvin is near Clarke County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Melvin ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Melvin.
There is one other community in Alabama which is also named Melvin.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melvin ...
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.
- Brewer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Creek ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Gilbertown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertown
- Gilbertown is located in Choctaw County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilbertown <5>
- Gin ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Horn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Junction City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Junction City is located in Clarke County (MS)
- Land
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Pierces Springs ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierces Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Springs
- Pierces Springs is located in Clarke County (MS)
- Pine Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in Clarke County (MS)
- Threadville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Threadville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threadville
- Threadville is located in Clarke County (MS)
- Water Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Water Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
- Water Valley is located in Choctaw County
How Far From Melvin 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 Melvin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Melvin and extending to:
- Butler, which is the Seat of Choctaw County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Melvin to Butler, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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 129 miles [207.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 801 miles [1,289.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,404 miles [11,915.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,281 miles [8,498.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Melvin. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Melvin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Melvin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melvin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9304, Longitude: -88.4589 In this case, the coordinates for Melvin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Melvin 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'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 Melvin 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 314.554 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.087 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.268 degrees. |