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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Black, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black 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 Black:
    • 31.010249, -85.742791
    • 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 Black
  • 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 Geneva County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Geneva County
    • Since Black is near Holmes County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Holmes County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Black

Communities Also Named Black ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Black.

Within Alabama, the name Black is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Black lies 4,012 miles [6,456.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
    • Georgia
      • Bulloch 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 Georgia community of Black [Bulloch County].
    • Idaho
      • Jerome 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 Idaho community of Black [Jerome County].
    • Illinois
      • Edwards County
      • This Black is located in Edwards County and lies 532 miles [856.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Edwards County community of Black.
    • Missouri
      • Reynolds County
      • This Black is located in Reynolds County and lies 538 miles [865.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reynolds County community of Black.
    • Ohio
      • Guernsey County
      • This Black is located in Guernsey County and lies 665 miles [1,070.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guernsey County community of Black.
    • Oklahoma
      • Garfield 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 Oklahoma community of Black [Garfield County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bradford County
      • This Black is located in Bradford County and lies 906 miles [1,458.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradford County community of Black.
    • South Carolina
      • Greenwood County
      • This Black is located in Greenwood County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenwood County community of Black.
    • South Dakota
      • Jackson 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 South Dakota community of Black [Jackson County].
    • Texas
      • Parmer County
      • This Black is located in Parmer County and lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Parmer County community of Black.
      • Titus 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 Texas community of Black [Titus County].
    • West Virginia
      • Wyoming County
      • This Black is located in Wyoming County and lies 515 miles [828.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Black that is located in Geneva County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wyoming County community of Black.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Black ...

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.

  • Dundee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dundee is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
  • Eleanor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Eleanor is located in Holmes County (FL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanor
  • Geneva
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • High Bluff
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • High Bluff is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bluff
  • Highfalls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Highfalls is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfalls
  • Highnote
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Highnote is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highnote
  • Holland Crossroads
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Holland Crossroads is located in Holmes County (FL)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland Crossroads
  • Kellys Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Kellys Crossroads is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Crossroads
  • Oak Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove is located in Geneva County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove

How Far From Black 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 town such as Black to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Geneva, which is the Seat of Geneva County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Black to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>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 three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 733 miles [1,179.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,320 miles [11,780.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,202 miles [8,371.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Black) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Black 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Black 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 Black. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.0102, Longitude: -85.7428       In this case, the coordinates for Black have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.879 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.019 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.405 degrees.