RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Saint Clair County >> Cropwell >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cropwell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cropwell 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 Cropwell:
    • 33.552518, -86.268836
    • 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 Cropwell
  • 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 Saint Clair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
    • Since Cropwell is near Talladega County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Cropwell

Communities Also Named Cropwell ...

We found two communities that are also named Cropwell.

Within Alabama, the name Cropwell is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New Jersey
      • Burlington County
      • This Cropwell is located in Burlington County and lies 763 miles [1,227.9 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cropwell that is located in Saint Clair County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burlington County community of Cropwell.
      • Camden 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 New Jersey community of Cropwell [Camden County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cropwell ...

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.

  • Colony
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Colony is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
  • Dunrowin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunrowin is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunrowin
  • Eden
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Enchanted Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Enchanted Hills is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Hills
  • England Isle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • England Isle is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for England Isle
  • Fishtrap
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Fishtrap is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishtrap
  • Fountainrun ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountainrun is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainrun
  • Glen City
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
  • Harrisburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Harrisburg is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Hunting Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hunting Ridge is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Ridge
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeview is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Mays Bend
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mays Bend is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Bend
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Park Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Park Hill is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hill
    • Pine Orchard
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pine Orchard is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Rocky Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
    • Windsong Island
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)

How Far From Cropwell 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 community such as Cropwell to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ashville, which is the Seat of Saint Clair County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Cropwell to Ashville, with an average speed<3> 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 6 hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 81 miles [130.4 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 632 miles [1,017.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,235 miles [11,643.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,112 miles [8,227 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Cropwell) 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 Cropwell 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>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 Cropwell 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 Cropwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5525, Longitude: -86.2688    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.358 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.925 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.076 degrees.