Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Tappan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tappan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Tappan
- 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 Tappan:
- 34.118152, -86.486654
- 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 Tappan
- 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 Tappan is near Cullman County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cullman County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Tappan ...
We found four communities that share the name Tappan.
Within Alabama, the name Tappan is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Michigan
- New York
- Ohio
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Tappan ...
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.
- Birdie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Bright Star
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bright Star have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Clarence
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Craig
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Fridays Crossing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Liberty
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Rock Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rock Springs is located in Blount County
- Royal
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Susan Moore
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
How Far From Tappan 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 Tappan 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 Tappan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Tappan and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Tappan to Oneonta, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 120 miles [193.1 km] to the south (S). 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 619 miles [996.2 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,510 miles [10,476.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,220 miles [11,619.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,096 miles [8,201.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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> | 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- Tappan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tappan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1182, Longitude: -86.4867 In this case, the coordinates for Tappan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <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 Tappan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Tappan 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 313.521 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.191 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.039 degrees. |