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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Boyds, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Boyds 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 Boyds:
    • 32.815620, -85.404348
    • 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 Boyds
  • 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 Chambers County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers County
    • Since Boyds is near Lee County and also Tallapoosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa 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 Boyds

Communities Also Named Boyds ...

We found nine communities that are also named Boyds.

There is one other community in Alabama that is also named Boyds.

Beyond Alabama, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, eight are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Montgomery 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 Alabama community of Boyds [Montgomery County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Boyds is located in Montgomery County and lies 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<2> to the northeast of the Boyds that is located in Chambers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Boyds.
    • Michigan
      • Houghton 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 Boyds [Houghton County].
    • Ohio
      • Columbiana County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Columbiana County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbiana County community of Boyds.
      • Fayette County
      • This Boyds is located in Fayette County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Boyds that is located in Chambers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Boyds.
      • Miami 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 Ohio community of Boyds [Miami County].
    • Ontario
      • This Boyds lies 978 miles [1,573.9 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Boyds that is located in Chambers County.
    • South Carolina
      • Newberry 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 South Carolina community of Boyds [Newberry County].
    • Washington
      • Ferry County
      • This Boyds is located in Ferry County and lies 2,009 miles [3,233.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Boyds that is located in Chambers County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ferry County community of Boyds.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Boyds ...

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.

  • Buffalo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Buffalo is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
  • Crooked Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Crooked Creek is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Creek
  • Farmville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmville is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
  • Gold Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Gold Hill is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
  • India Lakes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • India Lakes is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India Lakes
  • Jones Mill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones Mill is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Mill
  • Liberty Crossroads
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Liberty Crossroads is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Crossroads
  • Little Shawmut
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Little Shawmut is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Shawmut
  • Nelson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Nelson is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • New Harmony
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • New Harmony is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Harmony
  • Rocky Brook
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Rocky Brook is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Brook
  • Stonewall
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Stonewall is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
  • Tuckersburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Tuckersburg is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckersburg

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

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

  • LaFayette, which is the Seat of Chambers County, lies just to the North.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Boyds to Montgomery, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 628 miles [1,010.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,526 miles [10,502.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,227 miles [11,630.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,106 miles [8,217.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Boyds 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Boyds) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Boyds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Boyds 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 Boyds. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8156, Longitude: -85.4043       In this case, the coordinates for Boyds have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.804 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.182 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.898 degrees.