RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Houston County >> Grand Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Grand Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Acres 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 Grand Acres:
    • 31.275729, -85.442990
    • 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 Grand Acres
  • 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 Houston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
    • Since Grand Acres is near Dale County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Grand Acres

Communities Also Named Grand Acres ...

We found one communities that are also named Grand Acres.

Within Alabama, the name Grand Acres is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Grand Acres in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Cameron County
      • This Grand Acres is located in Cameron County and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Grand Acres that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cameron County community of Grand Acres.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand Acres ...

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.

  • Chickasaw Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Chickasaw Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw Heights
  • Clark Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Clark Crossroads is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Crossroads
  • Green Acres
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Acres is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Griffin Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Griffin Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Heights
  • Jones Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones Crossroads is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
  • Kelly Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Kelly Springs is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Springs
  • Peach Tree Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Peach Tree Hills is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Tree Hills
  • Peterman
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Peterman is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterman
  • Rock Creek Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Rock Creek Park is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Park
  • Shady Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Shady Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Heights
  • Silver Meadows
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Silver Meadows is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Meadows
  • Stadium Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stadium Place is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stadium Place
  • Whispering Pines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
  • Young America
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Young America is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America

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

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

  • Dothan, which is the Seat of Houston County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Grand Acres to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 708 miles [1,139.4 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,295 miles [11,740.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,176 miles [8,330 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Grand Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Grand Acres 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 Grand Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2757, Longitude: -85.4430       In this case, the coordinates for Grand Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.726 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.879 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.24 degrees.