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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dempsey, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dempsey 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 Dempsey:
    • 34.484263, -87.949759
    • 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 Dempsey
  • 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Since Dempsey is near Colbert County and also Marion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion 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 Dempsey

Communities Also Named Dempsey ...

We found eight communities that are also named Dempsey.

Within Alabama, the name Dempsey is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Columbia County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Dempsey [Columbia County].
    • Georgia
      • Dodge County
      • This Dempsey is located in Dodge County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Dempsey that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dodge County community of Dempsey.
    • Idaho
      • Bannock County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Dempsey [Bannock County].
    • Michigan
      • Kalkaska County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Dempsey [Kalkaska County].
    • Montana
      • Powell County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Dempsey [Powell County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Roger Mills County
      • This Dempsey is located in Roger Mills County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<2> to the west of the Dempsey that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roger Mills County community of Dempsey.
    • Texas
      • Cass County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Dempsey [Cass County].
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Dempsey is located in Fayette County and lies 450 miles [724.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Dempsey that is located in Franklin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Dempsey.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dempsey ...

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.

  • Glasgow Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Glasgow Corner is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow Corner
  • Halltown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Halltown is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halltown
  • Hub ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hub is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
  • Jordans Mill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jordans Mill is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordans Mill
  • Piney Bend
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Piney Bend is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Bend
  • Pleasant Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Pleasant Site
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Site is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Site
  • Rock Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rock Creek is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
  • Seven Pines
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Seven Pines is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Pines
  • Slickrock Ford ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Slickrock Ford is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford

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

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

  • Russellville, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Dempsey to Russellville, with an average speed<4> 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 173 miles [278.4 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 676 miles [1,087.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,552 miles [10,544.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,268 miles [11,696.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,143 miles [8,276.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Dempsey 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dempsey) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dempsey, 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 Dempsey 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 Dempsey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4843, Longitude: -87.9498       In this case, the coordinates for Dempsey have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.434 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.296 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.562 degrees.