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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Falliston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Falliston 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 Falliston:
    • 33.289558, -86.859990
    • 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 Falliston
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Falliston is near Jefferson County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Falliston

Curious and Interesting Names Near Falliston ...

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.

  • Alabaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Chestnut Glen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Chestnut Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Glen
  • Dearing Downs
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
  • Eden Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Eden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Ridge
  • Fox Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Fox Haven is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Haven
  • Hardy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardy is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
  • Helena
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • High Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • High Point is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Keystone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Keystone is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Kingwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
  • Navajo Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Navajo Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Hills
  • Navajo Pines
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Navajo Pines is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Pines
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Paramount
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Paramount is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
    • Roy Ford
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Roy Ford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Ford
    • Royal Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
    • Shades Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Shades Run is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shades Run
    • Shadywood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Shadywood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadywood
    • Weeping Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Weeping Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Oaks
    • Whispering Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Whispering Oaks is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Oaks

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Falliston and extending to:

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Falliston to Columbiana, with an average speed<3> 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 670 miles [1,078.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,565 miles [10,565.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,273 miles [11,704.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,149 miles [8,286.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Falliston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Falliston 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 Falliston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2896, Longitude: -86.8600       In this case, the coordinates for Falliston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.697 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.279 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.368 degrees.