RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Shelby County >> Alabaster >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Alabaster, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alabaster and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Alabaster:
    • 33.245623, -86.843085
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Alabaster
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Alabaster is near Jefferson County and also Bibb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Alabaster

Communities Also Named Alabaster ...

We found one communities that are also named Alabaster.

Within Alabama, the name Alabaster is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Alabaster in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Iosco County
      • This Alabaster is located in Iosco County and lies 775 miles [1,247.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Alabaster that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iosco County community of Alabaster.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alabaster ...

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.

  • Dearing Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
  • Elliotsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Elliotsville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
  • Fox Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Fox Haven is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Haven
  • Glen Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Glen Forest is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Hardy
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardy is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
  • Helena
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hunters Glen ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • Keystone
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Keystone is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Kingwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Kingwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
  • Longview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Longview is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Mallard Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mallard Point is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Point
  • Mission Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Mission Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Navajo Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Navajo Hills is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Hills
    • Navajo Pines
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Navajo Pines is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Pines
    • Paramount
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Paramount is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
    • Willow Glen
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Willow Glen is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen

How Far From Alabaster 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 city such as Alabaster to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alabaster and extending to:

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alabaster to Columbiana, with an average speed<3> 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 67 miles [107.8 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 671 miles [1,079.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,566 miles [10,567 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,274 miles [11,706.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,151 miles [8,289.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Alabaster) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Alabaster to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alabaster. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2456, Longitude: -86.8431       In this case, the coordinates for Alabaster have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.684 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.258 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.371 degrees.