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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bessemer Homestead, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bessemer Homestead 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 Bessemer Homestead:
    • 33.403721, -86.938881
    • 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 Bessemer Homestead
  • 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 Bessemer Homestead is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Bessemer Homestead

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bessemer Homestead ...

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.

  • Cloverdale
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cloverdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Crescent Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Glen Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hills
  • Gordon Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Gordon Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
  • Hillman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillman is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
  • Hillman Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillman Gardens is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Gardens
  • Hillman Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillman Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Park
  • Hopewell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hopewell is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Industrial City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Industrial City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial City
  • Laceys Chapel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Laceys Chapel is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laceys Chapel
  • Pauls Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Pauls Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Hill
  • Pine Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rice
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rice is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
    • Shady Brook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Shady Brook is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
    • Skyview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Skyview is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
    • Walnut Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Bessemer Homestead 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 Bessemer Homestead to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Bessemer Homestead and extending to:

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bessemer Homestead to Birmingham, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 79 miles [127.1 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 most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 669 miles [1,076.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,562 miles [10,560.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,271 miles [11,701.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,148 miles [8,284.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bessemer Homestead) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Bessemer Homestead 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 Bessemer Homestead. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4037, Longitude: -86.9389       In this case, the coordinates for Bessemer Homestead have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.751 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.358 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.376 degrees.