Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Tarsus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tarsus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Tarsus
- 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 Tarsus:
- 33.622326, -85.956079
- 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 Tarsus
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Tarsus is near Talladega County and also Tallapoosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Talladega County
- eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa 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 Tarsus ...
We found three communities that share the name Tarsus.
Within Alabama, the name Tarsus is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- North Dakota
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Tarsus ...
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.
- Blue Eye ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Coldwater
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Grant Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Grant Town is located in Talladega County
- House ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Martins Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martins Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Mill
- Martins Mill is located in Talladega County
- Meadowbrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Meadowbrook is located in Calhoun County
- Mechanicsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Mechanicsville is located in Calhoun County
- Plum Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plum Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Springs
- Plum Springs is located in Talladega County
- Polkville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Silver Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Sweet Home
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Home have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Home
- Sweet Home is located in Talladega County
- Trinity
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Wayside
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Tarsus 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 Tarsus 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<4> community of Tarsus once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Tarsus and extending to:
- Anniston, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Tarsus to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 615 miles [989.7 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 6,511 miles [10,478.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,218 miles [11,616.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,095 miles [8,199.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhouncounty.org/
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- Tarsus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tarsus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6223, Longitude: -85.9561 In this case, the coordinates for Tarsus 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 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 Tarsus 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> | 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 Tarsus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Tarsus 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 313.176 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.723 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.936 degrees. |