RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Lauderdale County >> Center Star >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Center Star, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Center Star 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 Center Star:
    • 34.861475, -87.455579
    • 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 Center Star
  • 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 Lauderdale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
    • Since Center Star is near Lawrence County and also Colbert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert 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 Center Star

Communities Also Named Center Star ...

We found three communities that are also named Center Star.

Within Alabama, the name Center Star is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Tennessee
      • Hardin County
      • This Center Star is located in Hardin County and lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Center Star that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Center Star.
      • Hickman County
      • This Center Star is located in Hickman County and lies 58 miles [93.3 km] to the north of the Center Star that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hickman County community of Center Star.
    • Virginia
      • Dinwiddie 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 Center Star [Dinwiddie County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Center Star ...

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.

  • Aqua Vista
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Aqua Vista is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aqua Vista
  • Atlas ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Atlas is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
  • Big Oak
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Big Oak is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Oak
  • Emerald Shores
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Emerald Shores is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Shores
  • Fishermans Resort
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fishermans Resort is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermans Resort
  • Ford City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Ford City is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
  • Hideaway Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hideaway Hills is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway Hills
  • Houstontown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Houstontown is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houstontown
  • Kingman ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Kingman is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman
  • Kingtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kingtown is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingtown
  • Lake Coves
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lake Coves is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Coves
  • Lakeview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lakeview is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Lock Six
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Lock Six is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Six
    • Lock Three
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lock Three is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Three
    • Mitchelltown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Mitchelltown is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
    • Paradise Points
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Paradise Points is located in Colbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Points
    • Posey ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Posey is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posey
    • Sky Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Sky Park is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Park
    • Virginia Shores
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Virginia Shores is located in Colbert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Shores

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

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

  • Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Center Star to Florence, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 183 miles [294.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 638 miles [1,026.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,514 miles [10,483.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,230 miles [11,635.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,105 miles [8,215.7 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 from Point A (ie- Center Star) 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 Center Star 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 Center Star 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 Center Star. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8615, Longitude: -87.4556       In this case, the coordinates for Center Star have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.152 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.022 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.274 degrees.