Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alum, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alum and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alum
- 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 Alum:
- 34.594536, -92.727944
- 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 Alum
- 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 Saline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saline County
- Since Alum is near Garland County and also Hot Spring County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Garland County
- eBird sighting report for Hot Spring 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 Alum ...
We found two communities that share the name Alum.
Within Arkansas, the name Alum is unique.
Beyond Arkansas, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Nevada
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alum ...
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.
- Bland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Congo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
- Congo is located in Saline County
- Crows
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Fairplay ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Fountain Lake
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Lake
- Fountain Lake is located in Garland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 576 people
- Grape
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - High Point ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Garland County
- Kentucky
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky
- Kentucky is located in Saline County
- Lena
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Rubicon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rubicon
- Rubicon is located in Saline County
How Far From Alum 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 Alum 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 Alum once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Alum and extending to:
- Benton, which is the Seat of Saline County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Alum to Little Rock, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 916 miles [1,474.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,736 miles [10,840.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,465 miles [12,013.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,342 miles [8,597.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Saline County: www.salinecounty.org/
The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.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 Alum, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alum) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alum. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5945, Longitude: -92.7279 In this case, the coordinates for Alum have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Alum 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 317.461 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.822 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.597 degrees. |