RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Jefferson County >> Bel Air >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Bel Air:
    • 33.585104, -86.721378
    • 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 Bel Air
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Bel Air is near Blount County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Bel Air

Communities Also Named Bel Air ...

We found seventeen communities that are also named Bel Air.

There are two communities within Alabama that are also named Bel Air.

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

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Houston County
      • This Bel Air is located in Houston County and lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Bel Air.
    • Mobile County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Bel Air [Mobile County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • This Bel Air is located in Los Angeles County and lies 1,813 miles [2,917.7 km]<1> to the west of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Bel Air.
    • Florida
      • Seminole County
      • This Bel Air is located in Seminole County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Seminole County community of Bel Air.
    • Georgia
      • Glynn County
      • This Bel Air is located in Glynn County and lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Glynn County community of Bel Air.
      • McIntosh County
      • This Bel Air is located in McIntosh County and lies 344 miles [553.6 km] to the east southeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McIntosh County community of Bel Air.
    • Kentucky
      • Clark County
      • This Bel Air is located in Clark County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Bel Air.
    • Louisiana
      • Saint Tammany Parish
      • This Bel Air is located in Saint Tammany Parish and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Tammany Parish community of Bel Air.
    • Maryland
      • Allegany County
      • This Bel Air is located in Allegany County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Bel Air.
      • Harford County
      • This Bel Air is located in Harford County and lies 706 miles [1,136.2 km] to the northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Bel Air.
    • North Carolina
      • Nash County
      • This Bel Air is located in Nash County and lies 528 miles [849.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nash County community of Bel Air.
      • Scotland County
      • This Bel Air is located in Scotland County and lies 423 miles [680.8 km] to the east northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scotland County community of Bel Air.
    • Tennessee
      • Maury County
      • This Bel Air is located in Maury County and lies 142 miles [228.5 km]<1> to the north of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maury County community of Bel Air.
    • Texas
      • Harrison County
      • This Bel Air is located in Harrison County and lies 448 miles [721 km]<1> to the west of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harrison County community of Bel Air.
    • Utah
      • Weber County
      • This Bel Air is located in Weber County and lies 1,477 miles [2,377 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Bel Air.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Bel Air is located in Fairfax County and lies 644 miles [1,036.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Bel Air.
      • Stafford County
      • This Bel Air is located in Stafford County and lies 613 miles [986.5 km] to the northeast of the Bel Air that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stafford County community of Bel Air.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bel Air ...

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.

  • Airport Highlands
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Airport Highlands is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Highlands
  • Danville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Danville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
  • Five Points East
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Five Points East is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points East
  • Gate City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
  • Kingsway Terrace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingsway Terrace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsway Terrace
  • Marks Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
  • Mountain Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
  • Plain View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Plain View is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain View
  • Spring Garden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Spring Garden is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
  • Trotwood Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Trotwood Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotwood Park
  • Woodlawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
  • Woodlawn Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Woodlawn Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights
  • Zion City
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Zion City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City

How Far From Bel Air to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Bel Air to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Bel Air 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 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 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,545 miles [10,533.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,254 miles [11,674.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,130 miles [8,255.9 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bel Air) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Bel Air 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>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 Bel Air 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 Bel Air. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5851, Longitude: -86.7214       In this case, the coordinates for Bel Air have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.632 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.245 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.25 degrees.