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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Anniston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Anniston 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 Anniston:
    • 33.658452, -85.826683
    • 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 Anniston
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Since Anniston is near Tallapoosa County and also Talladega County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega 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 Anniston

Communities Also Named Anniston ...

We found two communities that are also named Anniston.

Within Alabama, the name Anniston is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Mississippi County
      • This Anniston is located in Mississippi County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Anniston that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Anniston.
    • New Mexico
      • Quay County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Anniston [Quay County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Anniston ...

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 Pond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Blue Pond is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Pond
  • Boiling Spring
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Boiling Spring is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
  • Golden Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Golden Springs is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Springs
  • Hillcrest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Holly Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Holly Springs is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • House ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • House is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
  • Jo Dell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jo Dell is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jo Dell
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Mechanicsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Spring Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Spring Valley is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
  • Wayside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Wayside is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
  • Woodland Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Woodland Park is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park

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

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

  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 92 miles [148.1 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Anniston to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>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 most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 608 miles [978.5 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,210 miles [11,603.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,087 miles [8,186.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Anniston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Anniston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Anniston 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 Anniston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6585, Longitude: -85.8267    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.10 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.642 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.876 degrees.