Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Swansea, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swansea and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Swansea
- 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 Swansea:
- 33.854266, -86.555544
- 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 Swansea
- 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 Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Swansea is near Saint Clair County and also Coosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- eBird sighting report for Coosa 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 Swansea ...
We found ten communities that share the name Swansea.
Within Alabama, the name Swansea is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, seven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- British Columbia
- This Swansea lies 1,835 miles [2,953.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Swansea that is located in Blount County.
- California
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ontario
- This Swansea lies 774 miles [1,245.6 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Swansea that is located in Blount County.
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swansea ...
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.
- Allgood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Blow Gourd
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blow Gourd have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blow Gourd
- Blow Gourd is located in Blount County
- Cedar Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Cedar Springs is located in Blount County
- Graystone
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Holly Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Blount County
- Inland Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inland Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inland Junction
- Inland Junction is located in Blount County
- Little Warrior
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Warrior have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Warrior
- Little Warrior is located in Blount County
- Locust Fork
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Fork
- Locust Fork is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,178 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Locust Fork <5>
- Pine Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
- Pine Mountain is located in Blount County
- Selfville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
How Far From Swansea 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 Swansea 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 Swansea once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Swansea and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Swansea to Montgomery, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 632 miles [1,017.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,525 miles [10,501 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,234 miles [11,642 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,111 miles [8,225.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blount County: www.co.blount.al.us/
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 Swansea, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Swansea) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Swansea. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8543, Longitude: -86.5555 In this case, the coordinates for Swansea 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 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 Swansea 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 Swansea 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 313.548 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.185 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.125 degrees. |