Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Benson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Benson
- 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 Benson:
- 34.047319, -86.158309
- 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 Benson
- 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 Etowah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- Since Benson is near Saint Clair County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Benson ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Benson.
There are two communities within Alabama that are also named Benson.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another 26 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 26 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Chilton County
- Tallapoosa County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Harford County
- This Benson is located in Harford County and lies 658 miles [1,058.9 km]<3> to the northeast of the Benson that is located in Etowah County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Benson.
- Howard County
- This Benson is located in Howard County and lies 624 miles [1,004.2 km] to the northeast of the Benson that is located in Etowah County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Benson.
- Michigan
- Oakland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Benson [Oakland County].
- Wexford County
- This Benson is located in Wexford County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<3> to the north of the Benson that is located in Etowah County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wexford County community of Benson.
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Benson lies 1,366 miles [2,198.4 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Benson that is located in Etowah County.
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Benson ...
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.
- Aurora
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Aurora is located in Etowah County
- Cave Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
- Cave Springs is located in Etowah County
- Egypt
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
- Egypt is located in Etowah County
- Gallant
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallant
- Gallant is located in Etowah County
- Happy Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hollow
- Happy Hollow is located in Etowah County
- Hopper
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Lester
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Littleton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Maryville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Mays
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Noble Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noble Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Hill
- Noble Hill is located in Etowah County
- Redbud
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Rockledge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Shady Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Etowah County
How Far From Benson 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 Benson 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 Benson once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Benson and extending to:
- Gadsden, which is the Seat of Etowah County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Benson to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 606 miles [975.3 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 6,499 miles [10,459.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,208 miles [11,600.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,085 miles [8,183.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Etowah County: www.etowahcounty.org/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Benson 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. |
| <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 Benson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Benson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0473, Longitude: -86.1583 In this case, the coordinates for Benson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Benson 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 313.319 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.949 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.921 degrees. |