RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Tuscaloosa County >> Foster's >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Foster's, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Foster's 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 Foster's:
    • 33.094700, -87.686219
    • 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 Foster's
  • 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Foster's is near Hale County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Foster's

Communities Also Named Foster's ...

We found seven communities that are also named Foster's.

Within Alabama, the name Foster's is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Bossier Parish
      • This Foster's is located in Bossier Parish and lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<1> to the west of the Foster's that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bossier Parish community of Foster's.
    • Maine
      • Penobscot 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 Maine community of Foster's [Penobscot County].
    • Michigan
      • Saginaw County
      • This Foster's is located in Saginaw County and lies 733 miles [1,179.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Foster's that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saginaw County community of Foster's.
      • Washtenaw 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 Michigan community of Foster's [Washtenaw County].
    • Ohio
      • Warren 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 Ohio community of Foster's [Warren County].
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington 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 South Carolina community of Foster's [Lexington County].
    • West Virginia
      • Taylor 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 West Virginia community of Foster's [Taylor County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Foster's ...

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.

  • Fairlawn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairlawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Fernridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fernridge is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernridge
  • Gardendale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gardendale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
  • Green Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Valley is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Greenview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenview is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
  • Hays Court
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hays Court is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Court
  • Hull
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hull is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
  • Kings Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kings Ferry is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Ferry
  • Lincoln Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Little Sandy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Little Sandy is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sandy
  • Maxwell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Maxwell is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
  • Mimosa Highlands
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mimosa Highlands is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mimosa Highlands
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Moundville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountainbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Mountainbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
    • Ralph
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Royal Pines
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Royal Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Pines
    • Sanders Ferry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Sanders Ferry is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Ferry

How Far From Foster's 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 Foster's to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Foster's to Tuscaloosa, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 94 miles [151.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 716 miles [1,152.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,318 miles [11,777.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,194 miles [8,358.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Foster's) 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 Foster's 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 Foster's 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 Foster's. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0947, Longitude: -87.6862    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.181 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.813 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.739 degrees.