Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Prestwick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Prestwick and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Prestwick
- 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 Prestwick:
- 31.453730, -87.966627
- 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 Prestwick
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Prestwick is near Clarke County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Prestwick ...
We found two communities that share the name Prestwick.
Within Alabama, the name Prestwick is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Prestwick ...
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.
- Ballfield Landing
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ballfield Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballfield Landing
- Ballfield Landing is located in Clarke County
- Carson
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Choctaw Bluff
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Choctaw Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw Bluff
- Choctaw Bluff is located in Clarke County
- German Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for German Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Ford
- German Ford is located in Washington County
- Holders Ferry
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holders Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holders Ferry
- Holders Ferry is located in Washington County
- Leroy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leroy
- Leroy is located in Washington County
- Mays Crossroads
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mays Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Crossroads
- Mays Crossroads is located in Clarke County
- Oil Well Landing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oil Well Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Well Landing
- Oil Well Landing is located in Washington County
- Rockville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Rockville is located in Clarke County
- Sunflower
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunflower
- Sunflower is located in Washington County
- Toddtown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddtown
- Toddtown is located in Clarke County
How Far From Prestwick 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 Prestwick to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Prestwick and extending to:
- Chatom, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Prestwick to Chatom, with an average speed<4> 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 116 miles [186.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,699 miles [10,781 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,403 miles [11,914 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,281 miles [8,498.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Prestwick. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Washington County: www.washingtoncountyalgov.com
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 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 Prestwick 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Prestwick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Prestwick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4537, Longitude: -87.9666 In this case, the coordinates for Prestwick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Prestwick to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.218 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.631 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.162 degrees. |