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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Calera, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Calera 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 Calera:
    • 33.103249, -86.753049
    • 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 Calera
  • 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 Calera ...

We found three communities that share the name Calera.

Within Alabama, the name Calera is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Oklahoma
      • Bryan County
      • This Calera is located in Bryan County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<1> to the west of the Calera that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bryan County community of Calera.
    • Texas
      • Reeves County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Reeves County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Reeves County community of Calera.
    • Virginia
      • Botetourt County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Calera [Botetourt County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Calera ...

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.

  • Dry Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Valley
    • Dry Valley is located in Shelby County
  • Glen Forest
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
    • Glen Forest is located in Shelby County
  • Ivanhoe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivanhoe have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
    • Ivanhoe is located in Shelby County
  • Longview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
    • Longview is located in Shelby County
  • Meadow Green
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Green have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Green
    • Meadow Green is located in Shelby County
  • Mission Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
    • Mission Hills is located in Shelby County
  • Oak Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Oak Grove is located in Chilton County
  • Roberta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberta have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberta
    • Roberta is located in Shelby County
  • Springs Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springs Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springs Junction
    • Springs Junction is located in Shelby County
  • Stems
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stems have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stems
    • Stems is located in Shelby County
  • Valley Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Junction
    • Valley Junction is located in Shelby County
  • Willow Glen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen
    • Willow Glen is located in Shelby County

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

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

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Calera to Columbiana, with an average speed<5> 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 56 miles [90.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 673 miles [1,083.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,276 miles [11,709.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,153 miles [8,292.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

The official website for Calera: www.cityofcalera.org/

The official website for Shelby County: www.shelbycountyalabama.com/

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/

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- Calera) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Calera. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1032, Longitude: -86.7530    
<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 Calera, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Calera 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.
<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 Calera 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 313.62 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.166 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.365 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 09 Mar 2024