RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Colbert County >> Crooked Oak >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Crooked Oak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crooked Oak 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 Crooked Oak:
    • 34.585093, -87.799478
    • 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 Crooked Oak
  • 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 Colbert County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Since Crooked Oak is near Franklin County and also Lauderdale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale 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 Crooked Oak

Communities Also Named Crooked Oak ...

We found three communities that are also named Crooked Oak.

Within Alabama, the name Crooked Oak is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Wicomico County
      • This Crooked Oak is located in Wicomico County and lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Crooked Oak that is located in Colbert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wicomico County community of Crooked Oak.
    • North Carolina
      • Surry County
      • This Crooked Oak is located in Surry County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Crooked Oak that is located in Colbert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Surry County community of Crooked Oak.
    • Virginia
      • Carroll County
      • This Crooked Oak is located in Carroll County and lies 429 miles [690.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Crooked Oak that is located in Colbert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Crooked Oak.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Crooked Oak ...

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.

  • Flatwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Flatwoods is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Good Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Good Springs is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
  • Gravel Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gravel Hill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
  • Hawk Pride
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hawk Pride is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Pride
  • Lime Rock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lime Rock is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Rock
  • Little Zion ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Zion is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Zion
  • Littleville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Littleville is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
  • Milk Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Milk Springs is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milk Springs
  • Pleasant Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Reedtown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Reedtown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedtown
  • Rock Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Rock Creek is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
  • Sand Lick ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Sand Lick is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Lick
  • White House Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • White House Springs is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
  • Woodlawn Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodlawn Heights is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights

How Far From Crooked Oak 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 Crooked Oak to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tuscumbia, which is the Seat of Colbert County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Crooked Oak to Tuscumbia, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 175 miles [281.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 665 miles [1,070.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,541 miles [10,526.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,257 miles [11,679 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,132 miles [8,259.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Crooked Oak) 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 Crooked Oak 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 Crooked Oak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5851, Longitude: -87.7995       In this case, the coordinates for Crooked Oak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.348 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.21 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.478 degrees.