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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Eleanor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eleanor 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 Eleanor:
    • 32.340139, -87.319163
    • 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 Eleanor
  • 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 Dallas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas County
    • Since Eleanor is near Wilcox County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilcox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Eleanor

Communities Also Named Eleanor ...

We found eight communities that are also named Eleanor.

Within Alabama, the name Eleanor is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Holmes County
      • This Eleanor is located in Holmes County and lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Eleanor that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holmes County community of Eleanor.
    • Illinois
      • Warren County
      • This Eleanor is located in Warren County and lies 625 miles [1,005.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Eleanor that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Eleanor.
    • Iowa
      • Butler County
      • This Eleanor is located in Butler County and lies 770 miles [1,239.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Eleanor that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Eleanor.
    • Kansas
      • Harvey 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 Eleanor [Harvey County].
    • Mississippi
      • Coahoma 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 Mississippi community of Eleanor [Coahoma County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Jefferson 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 Pennsylvania community of Eleanor [Jefferson County].
    • Washington
      • Lincoln 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 Washington community of Eleanor [Lincoln County].
    • West Virginia
      • Putnam County
      • This Eleanor is located in Putnam County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Eleanor that is located in Dallas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Eleanor.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Eleanor ...

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.

  • Alberta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alberta is located in Wilcox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
  • Crumptonia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Crumptonia is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crumptonia
  • Donald
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Donald is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donald
  • Five Points
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Points is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Fortune Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Fortune Ferry is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fortune Ferry
  • Marion Junction
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Marion Junction is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Junction
  • Marshall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Marshall is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Martin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Martin is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Trinity
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Trinity is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity

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

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

  • Selma, which is the Seat of Dallas County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Eleanor to Selma, 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 59 miles [95 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 732 miles [1,178 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,629 miles [10,668.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,335 miles [11,804.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,212 miles [8,387.9 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 from Point A (ie- Eleanor) 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 Eleanor 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 Eleanor, 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 Eleanor 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 Eleanor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3401, Longitude: -87.3192       In this case, the coordinates for Eleanor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.905 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.39 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.743 degrees.