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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elder 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 Elder:
    • 33.460772, -85.771873
    • 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 Elder
  • 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Since Elder is near Talladega County and also Cleburne 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 Cleburne 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 Elder

Communities Also Named Elder ...

We found seven communities that are also named Elder.

Within Alabama, the name Elder is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Otero County
      • This Elder is located in Otero County and lies 1,066 miles [1,715.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Elder that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otero County community of Elder.
    • Georgia
      • Clarke County
      • This Elder is located in Clarke County and lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elder that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clarke County community of Elder.
      • Oconee County
      • This Elder is located in Oconee County and lies 141 miles [226.9 km] to the east of the Elder that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Elder.
    • Kentucky
      • Morgan 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 Kentucky community of Elder [Morgan County].
    • Louisiana
      • Allen Parish
      • This Elder is located in Allen Parish and lies 457 miles [735.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Elder that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen Parish community of Elder.
    • Maryland
      • Garrett 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 Maryland community of Elder [Garrett County].
    • Ontario
      • This Elder lies 794 miles [1,277.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Elder that is located in Clay County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elder ...

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.

  • Blue Pond
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Blue Pond is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Pond
  • Boiling Spring
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Boiling Spring is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
  • Christiana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Delta
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Erin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Five Points
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Points is located in Cleburne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Friendship
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Fuller Crossroad
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fuller Crossroad is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller Crossroad
  • Hicks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hicks is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
  • Highland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Hopeful
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hopeful is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeful
  • House ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • House is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Jo Dell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jo Dell is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jo Dell
    • Lakeview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Lakeview is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Liberty
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Liberty is located in Randolph County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Lineville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Meadowbrook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Needmore
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Needmore is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
    • Silver Run
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sweet Home
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sweet Home is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Home
    • Trinity
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Trinity is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
    • Union
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Union is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

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

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

  • Ashland, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elder to Ashland, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 80 miles [128.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 614 miles [988.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,511 miles [10,478.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,216 miles [11,613 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,094 miles [8,198 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Elder) 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 Elder 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Elder 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 Elder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4608, Longitude: -85.7719       In this case, the coordinates for Elder have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.057 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.564 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.898 degrees.