Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Southern, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southern and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Southern
- 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 Southern:
- 34.474536, -86.527212
- 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 Southern
- 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- Since Southern is near Madison County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- eBird sighting report for Morgan 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Southern ...
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.
- Apple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Burrows
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Cushion
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Ferns Quarter ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferns Quarter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferns Quarter
- Ferns Quarter is located in Marshall County
- Friendship
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Marshall County
- Green Cove Meadows
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Cove Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Cove Meadows
- Green Cove Meadows is located in Madison County
- Hebron
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Hobbs Island
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobbs Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs Island
- Hobbs Island is located in Madison County
- Lacey's Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacey's Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey's Spring
- Lacey's Spring is located in Morgan County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey's Spring <2>
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Neighbors Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neighbors Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neighbors Mill
- Neighbors Mill is located in Marshall County
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Oleander
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Redstone Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redstone Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone Park
- Redstone Park is located in Madison County
- Swift Ford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swift Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Ford
- Swift Ford is located in Madison County
- Union Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Union Grove is located in Marshall County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union Grove <2>
- Neighbors Mill
How Far From Southern 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 Southern 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<3> community of Southern once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Southern and extending to:
- Guntersville, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<4> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southern to Guntersville, with an average speed<5> 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 145 miles [233.4 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 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 607 miles [976.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,494 miles [10,451.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,206 miles [11,596.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,082 miles [8,178.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Marshall County: www.marshallco.org/www/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Southern, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Southern) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Southern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4745, Longitude: -86.5272 In this case, the coordinates for Southern have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Southern 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 313.564 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.291 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.975 degrees. |