Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Griffins, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Griffins and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Griffins
- 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 Griffins:
- 32.331808, -87.956127
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Griffins
- 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 Marengo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marengo County
- Since Griffins is near Choctaw County and also Sumter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
- eBird sighting report for Sumter 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Griffins ...
We found three communities that share the name Griffins.
Within Alabama, the name Griffins is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Connecticut
- Indiana
Curious and Interesting Names Near Griffins ...
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 Lock ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Campground
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campground have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campground
- Campground is located in Marengo County
- Deans Landing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deans Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deans Landing
- Deans Landing is located in Sumter County
- Edna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Half Acre
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Acre
- Half Acre is located in Marengo County
- Former names for Half Acre:
- Hell's Half Acre
- Luther's Store
- Hill Top
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Moscow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Moscow Ferry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscow Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow Ferry
- Moscow Ferry is located in Marengo County
- Persimmon Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Persimmon Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persimmon Grove
- Persimmon Grove is located in Sumter County
- Pin Hook
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
- Pin Hook is located in Marengo County
- Salt Well
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
How Far From Griffins 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 Griffins to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Griffins once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Griffins and extending to:
- Linden, which is the Seat of Marengo County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Griffins to Linden, with an average speed<5> 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 96 miles [154.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 761 miles [1,224.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,656 miles [10,711.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,364 miles [11,851.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,241 miles [8,434.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Griffins 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. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Griffins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Griffins) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Griffins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.3318, Longitude: -87.9561 In this case, the coordinates for Griffins have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Griffins to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.286 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.83 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.995 degrees. |