RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Morgan County >> Cole Spring >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cole Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cole Spring 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 Cole Spring:
    • 34.353985, -86.832780
    • 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 Cole Spring
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Cole Spring is near Cullman County and also Limestone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cullman County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone 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 Cole Spring

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cole Spring ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Centerville is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • County Line
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • County Line is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
  • Dyers Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Dyers Crossroads is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyers Crossroads
  • Georgia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Georgia is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
  • Gold Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gold Ridge is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Ridge
  • Gum Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Gum Spring is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
  • Leesdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Leesdale is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesdale
  • Longview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Longview is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Lynntown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lynntown is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynntown
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Providence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Providence is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Six Mile
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Six Mile is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Mile
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Stringer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Stringer is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringer
    • Tanner Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Tanner Heights is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Heights
    • Union
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Union is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Union Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Union Hill is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

How Far From Cole Spring 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 Cole Spring to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Cole Spring and extending to:

  • Decatur, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cole Spring to Decatur, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 139 miles [223.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 626 miles [1,007.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,513 miles [10,481.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,225 miles [11,627.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,101 miles [8,209.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Cole Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Cole Spring 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 Cole Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3540, Longitude: -86.8328       In this case, the coordinates for Cole Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.743 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.481 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.128 degrees.