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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Byrd, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Byrd 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 Byrd:
    • 34.079826, -88.132259
    • 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 Byrd
  • 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Since Byrd is near Lamar County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lamar County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Byrd

Communities Also Named Byrd ...

We found eight communities that are also named Byrd.

Within Alabama, the name Byrd is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Saint Johns County
      • This Byrd is located in Saint Johns County and lies 495 miles [796.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Byrd that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Johns County community of Byrd.
    • Georgia
      • Floyd 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 Byrd [Floyd County].
    • Mississippi
      • Greene County
      • This Byrd is located in Greene County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the south of the Byrd that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Byrd.
    • North Carolina
      • Wilkes 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 North Carolina community of Byrd [Wilkes County].
    • South Carolina
      • Dorchester County
      • This Byrd is located in Dorchester County and lies 442 miles [711.3 km]<1> to the east of the Byrd that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dorchester County community of Byrd.
    • Texas
      • Ellis County
      • This Byrd is located in Ellis County and lies 509 miles [819.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Byrd that is located in Marion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellis County community of Byrd.
    • Virginia
      • Henrico 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 Virginia community of Byrd [Henrico County].
    • West Virginia
      • Jefferson 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 West Virginia community of Byrd [Jefferson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Byrd ...

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.

  • Ales ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Ales is located in Monroe County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ales
  • Cardsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cardsville is located in Itawamba County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardsville
  • Crews
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Crews is located in Lamar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crews
  • Hays Ford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hays Ford is located in Lamar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Ford
  • Henson Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Henson Springs is located in Lamar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henson Springs
  • Moscow
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Moscow is located in Lamar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Pea Ridge
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Pea Ridge is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Ridge
  • Pikeville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Pikeville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville
  • Pine Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Pine Springs is located in Lamar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Springs
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Twin
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Twin is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 386 people
  • Wise Gap
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wise Gap is located in Monroe County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise Gap

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

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

  • Hamilton, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Byrd to Hamilton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 158 miles [254.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 699 miles [1,124.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,579 miles [10,587.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,294 miles [11,738.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,169 miles [8,318.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Byrd) 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 Byrd 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 Byrd 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 Byrd. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0798, Longitude: -88.1323       In this case, the coordinates for Byrd have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.521 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.341 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.722 degrees.