RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Cullman County >> The Colony >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Colony, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Colony 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 The Colony:
    • 33.945657, -86.901667
    • 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 The Colony
  • 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 Cullman County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cullman County
    • Since The Colony is near Blount County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 The Colony

Communities Also Named The Colony ...

We found 21 communities that are also named The Colony.

There are three communities within Alabama that are also named The Colony.

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

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Cullman County
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of The Colony.
    • Talladega County
      • This The Colony is located in Talladega County and lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Talladega County community of The Colony.
    • Tuscaloosa 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 Alabama community of The Colony [Tuscaloosa County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Baldwin County
      • This The Colony is located in Baldwin County and lies 221 miles [355.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baldwin County community of The Colony.
    • Kansas
      • Anderson County
      • This The Colony is located in Anderson County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of The Colony.
      • Norton 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 Kansas community of The Colony [Norton County].
    • Kentucky
      • Fayette County
      • This The Colony is located in Fayette County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of The Colony.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This The Colony is located in Baltimore County and lies 682 miles [1,097.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of The Colony.
      • Montgomery County
      • This The Colony is located in Montgomery County and lies 644 miles [1,036.4 km] to the northeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of The Colony.
    • Missouri
      • Knox County
      • This The Colony is located in Knox County and lies 517 miles [832 km]<1> to the north northwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of The Colony.
    • Nevada
      • Lyon County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Lyon County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of The Colony.
    • Oklahoma
      • Washita County
      • This The Colony is located in Washita County and lies 675 miles [1,086.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washita County community of The Colony.
    • South Carolina
      • Aiken County
      • This The Colony is located in Aiken County and lies 284 miles [457.1 km]<1> to the east of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aiken County community of The Colony.
    • Texas
      • Blanco County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Blanco County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blanco County community of The Colony.
      • Denton County
      • This The Colony is located in Denton County and lies 578 miles [930.2 km]<1> to the west of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Denton County community of The Colony.
      • Fayette County
      • This The Colony is located in Fayette County and lies 667 miles [1,073.4 km] to the west southwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of The Colony.
      • Rains County
      • This The Colony is located in Rains County and lies 512 miles [824 km] to the west of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rains County community of The Colony.
    • Utah
      • Weber County
      • This The Colony is located in Weber County and lies 1,456 miles [2,343.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of The Colony.
    • Virginia
      • Amherst County
      • This The Colony is located in Amherst County and lies 497 miles [799.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amherst County community of The Colony.
      • James City County
      • This The Colony is located in James City County and lies 613 miles [986.5 km] to the east northeast of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the James City County community of The Colony.
    • Wyoming
      • Crook County
      • This The Colony is located in Crook County and lies 1,185 miles [1,907.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the The Colony that is located in Cullman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crook County community of The Colony.

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Colony ...

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.

  • Bent Tree
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bent Tree is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Tree
  • Black Bottom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
  • Center Community
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Center Community is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Community
  • Cold Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cold Springs is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Colony
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Colony is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
    • Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
  • Damascus
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Damascus is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
  • Dodge City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Dodge City is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
  • Misty Harbor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Misty Harbor is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Misty Harbor
  • Red Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Red Hill is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Smoke Rise
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
  • Sulpher Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sulpher Springs is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulpher Springs

How Far From The Colony 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 The Colony to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Cullman, which is the Seat of Cullman County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from The Colony to Cullman, with an average speed<4> 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 five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 645 miles [1,038 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,535 miles [10,517.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,246 miles [11,661.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,122 miles [8,243.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Colony) 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 The Colony 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 The Colony, 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 The Colony 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 The Colony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9457, Longitude: -86.9017       In this case, the coordinates for The Colony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.762 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.446 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.245 degrees.