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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Central Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Central Heights 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 Central Heights:
    • 34.894531, -87.790863
    • 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 Central Heights
  • 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 Central Heights is near Colbert County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Central Heights

Communities Also Named Central Heights ...

We found ten communities that are also named Central Heights.

Within Alabama, the name Central Heights is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Gila County
      • This Central Heights is located in Gila County and lies 1,316 miles [2,117.9 km]<1> to the west of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gila County community of Central Heights.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Central Heights is located in Hillsborough County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Central Heights.
    • Iowa
      • Cerro Gordo County
      • This Central Heights is located in Cerro Gordo County and lies 639 miles [1,028.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cerro Gordo County community of Central Heights.
    • North Carolina
      • Alamance County
      • This Central Heights is located in Alamance County and lies 475 miles [764.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alamance County community of Central Heights.
      • Wayne County
      • This Central Heights is located in Wayne County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km] to the east of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Central Heights.
    • Tennessee
      • Carter 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 Tennessee community of Central Heights [Carter County].
      • Sullivan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Central Heights [Sullivan County].
    • Texas
      • 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 Texas community of Central Heights [Jefferson County].
      • Nacogdoches County
      • This Central Heights is located in Nacogdoches County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nacogdoches County community of Central Heights.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Central Heights is located in Davis County and lies 1,370 miles [2,204.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Central Heights that is located in Lauderdale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Central Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Central Heights ...

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.

  • Cloverdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cloverdale is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Cypress Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Creek is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
  • Cypress Forest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Forest is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Forest
  • Cypress Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Heights is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Heights
  • Gravelly Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Gravelly Springs is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Springs
  • Green Tree ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Green Tree is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
  • Keys Chapel ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Keys Chapel is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Chapel
  • Lovelace Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lovelace Crossroads is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelace Crossroads
  • Mansion View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mansion View is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansion View
  • Mars Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
  • Melvin ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Petersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Petersville is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stoney Point ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Stoney Point is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Point
    • Terrace View
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Terrace View is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrace View
    • Three Forks
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Three Forks is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
    • Twin Oaks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks

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

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

  • Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Central Heights to Florence, 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 193 miles [310.6 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 654 miles [1,052.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,243 miles [11,656.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,118 miles [8,236.6 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- Central Heights) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Central Heights 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 Central Heights 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 Central Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8945, Longitude: -87.7909       In this case, the coordinates for Central Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.36 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.268 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.408 degrees.