RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Pike County >> China Grove >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in China Grove, we use the following websites to find information relevant to China Grove 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 China Grove:
    • 32.029596, -85.944676
    • 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 China Grove
  • 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 Pike County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pike County
    • Since China Grove is near Bullock County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bullock County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 China Grove

Communities Also Named China Grove ...

We found seven communities that are also named China Grove.

Within Alabama, the name China Grove is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Pike 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 Mississippi community of China Grove [Pike County].
      • Walthall County
      • This China Grove is located in Walthall County and lies 248 miles [399.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walthall County community of China Grove.
    • North Carolina
      • Rowan County
      • This China Grove is located in Rowan County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rowan County community of China Grove.
    • Tennessee
      • Gibson County
      • This China Grove is located in Gibson County and lies 330 miles [531.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of China Grove.
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This China Grove is located in Bexar County and lies 757 miles [1,218.3 km]<2> to the west of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of China Grove.
      • Brazoria County
      • This China Grove is located in Brazoria County and lies 594 miles [956 km] to the west southwest of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazoria County community of China Grove.
      • Scurry County
      • This China Grove is located in Scurry County and lies 868 miles [1,396.9 km] to the west of the China Grove that is located in Pike County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scurry County community of China Grove.

Curious and Interesting Names Near China Grove ...

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.

  • Bruceville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bruceville is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville
  • Center Point
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Center Point is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
  • Curry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Curry is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry
  • Curry's
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Curry's is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry's
  • Hector
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hector is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hector
  • High Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • High Ridge is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Hooks Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hooks Crossroads is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooks Crossroads
  • Meeksville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Meeksville is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeksville
  • Needmore
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Needmore is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Orion
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Orion is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orion
  • Pine Level
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pine Level is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
  • Postoak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Postoak is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
  • Stills Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stills Crossroads is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stills Crossroads

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

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

  • Troy, which is the Seat of Pike County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from China Grove to Troy, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 31 miles [49.9 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 689 miles [1,108.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,586 miles [10,599.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,286 miles [11,725.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,165 miles [8,312.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 China Grove 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- China Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 China Grove 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 China Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0296, Longitude: -85.9447       In this case, the coordinates for China Grove have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.07 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.381 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.274 degrees.