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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Coker, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coker 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 Coker:
    • 33.244398, -87.681085
    • 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 Coker
  • 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Coker is near Greene County and also Pickens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens 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 Coker

Communities Also Named Coker ...

We found five communities that are also named Coker.

Within Alabama, the name Coker is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hardee County
      • This Coker is located in Hardee County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Coker that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardee County community of Coker.
    • Georgia
      • Fulton 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 Coker [Fulton County].
    • Louisiana
      • De Soto Parish
      • This Coker is located in De Soto Parish and lies 361 miles [581 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Coker that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the De Soto Parish community of Coker.
    • Nebraska
      • Lincoln County
      • This Coker is located in Lincoln County and lies 918 miles [1,477.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Coker that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Coker.
    • Texas
      • Bexar County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Bexar County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Coker.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Coker ...

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.

  • Chapelwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Chapelwood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapelwood
  • Chestnut Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Crestdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Crestdale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestdale
  • Fairlawn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairlawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Flatwoods
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Flatwoods is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Forest Green
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Forest Green is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Green
  • Forest Green Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Forest Green Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Green Park
  • Gardendale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gardendale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
  • Greenview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenview is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
  • Harperwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Harperwood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harperwood
  • Hays Court
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hays Court is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Court
  • Hightown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hightown is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Highview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Highview is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
    • Lincoln Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
    • Pine Circle
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Pine Circle is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Circle
    • Roselawn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Roselawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roselawn
    • Royal Pines
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Royal Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Pines
    • Sanders Ferry
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Sanders Ferry is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Ferry
    • Snow Terrace
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Snow Terrace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Terrace
    • Twin Manor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Twin Manor is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Manor

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

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

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 100 miles [160.9 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Coker to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 710 miles [1,142.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,601 miles [10,623.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,311 miles [11,765.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,187 miles [8,347.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Coker) 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 Coker 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>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 Coker, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Coker 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 Coker. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2444, Longitude: -87.6811       In this case, the coordinates for Coker have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.189 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.842 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.707 degrees.