RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Morgan County >> Gum Spring >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gum Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gum Spring 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 Gum Spring:
    • 34.436205, -86.818613
    • 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 Gum Spring
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Gum Spring is near Limestone County and also Cullman County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cullman 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 Gum Spring

Communities Also Named Gum Spring ...

We found six communities that are also named Gum Spring.

Within Alabama, the name Gum Spring is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Wabaunsee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Gum Spring [Wabaunsee County].
    • Mississippi
      • Scott County
      • This Gum Spring is located in Scott County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<2> to the southwest of the Gum Spring that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Gum Spring.
    • Tennessee
      • Cocke County
      • This Gum Spring is located in Cocke County and lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Gum Spring that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cocke County community of Gum Spring.
      • White County
      • This Gum Spring is located in White County and lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the north northeast of the Gum Spring that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the White County community of Gum Spring.
    • Virginia
      • Louisa County
      • This Gum Spring is located in Louisa County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Gum Spring that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Louisa County community of Gum Spring.
    • West Virginia
      • Monongalia County
      • This Gum Spring is located in Monongalia County and lies 517 miles [832 km]<2> to the northeast of the Gum Spring that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monongalia County community of Gum Spring.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gum Spring ...

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.

  • Bluff City ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Bluff City is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
  • Cave Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cave Springs is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
  • Georgia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Georgia is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
  • Leesdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Leesdale is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesdale
  • Lynntown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Lynntown is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynntown
  • Priceville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Rocky Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Point is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
  • Six Mile
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Six Mile is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Mile
  • Six Way
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Six Way is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Way
  • Stringer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Stringer is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringer
  • Tanner Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Tanner Heights is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Heights
  • Union
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Union is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Union Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Union Hill is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • Woodland Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Woodland Mills is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Mills

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

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

  • Decatur, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gum Spring to Decatur, 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 four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 145 miles [233.4 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 622 miles [1,001 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,508 miles [10,473.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,221 miles [11,621.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,096 miles [8,201.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Gum Spring 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>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- Gum Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Gum Spring 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 Gum Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4362, Longitude: -86.8186       In this case, the coordinates for Gum Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.739 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.487 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.104 degrees.