Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Saginaw, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saginaw and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Saginaw
- 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 Saginaw:
- 33.216226, -86.791932
- 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 Saginaw
- 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Since Saginaw is near Jefferson County and also Chilton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- eBird sighting report for Chilton 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 Saginaw ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Saginaw.
Within Alabama, the name Saginaw is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- New York
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Saginaw ...
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.
- Alabaster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alabaster have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabaster
- Alabaster is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33,701 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alabaster <4>
- Dearing Downs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dearing Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
- Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
- Elliotsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elliotsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
- Elliotsville is located in Shelby County
- Glen Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
- Glen Forest is located in Shelby County
- Hardy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Ivanhoe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Keystone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Kingwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Longview
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Meadow Green
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Green
- Meadow Green is located in Shelby County
- Mission Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
- Mission Hills is located in Shelby County
- Navajo Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navajo Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Hills
- Navajo Hills is located in Shelby County
- Navajo Pines
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navajo Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Pines
- Navajo Pines is located in Shelby County
- Willow Glen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen
- Willow Glen is located in Shelby County
How Far From Saginaw to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Saginaw to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Saginaw and extending to:
- Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Saginaw to Columbiana, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 670 miles [1,078.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,565 miles [10,565.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,273 miles [11,704.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,150 miles [8,288.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Saginaw. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Shelby County: www.shelbycountyalabama.com/
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 from Point A (ie- Saginaw) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Saginaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2162, Longitude: -86.7919 In this case, the coordinates for Saginaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Saginaw 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> | 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Saginaw 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 313.651 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.217 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.356 degrees. |