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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hector, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hector and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Hector:
    • 32.112371, -85.908842
    • 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 Hector
  • 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 Bullock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bullock County
    • Since Hector is near Pike County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pike County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Hector

Communities Also Named Hector ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Hector.

Within Alabama, the name Hector is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Pope County
      • This Hector is located in Pope County and lies 466 miles [750 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pope County community of Hector.
    • British Columbia
      • This Hector lies 2,032 miles [3,270.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Hector is located in San Bernardino County and lies 1,762 miles [2,835.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Hector.
    • Indiana
      • Jay 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 Indiana community of Hector [Jay County].
    • Kansas
      • Greeley 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 Kansas community of Hector [Greeley County].
      • Johnson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Hector [Johnson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Clay County
      • This Hector is located in Clay County and lies 370 miles [595.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Hector.
    • Minnesota
      • Renville County
      • This Hector is located in Renville County and lies 992 miles [1,596.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Renville County community of Hector.
    • New York
      • Schuyler County
      • This Hector is located in Schuyler County and lies 871 miles [1,401.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Schuyler County community of Hector.
    • Ohio
      • Putnam County
      • This Hector is located in Putnam County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the north of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Hector.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Potter County
      • This Hector is located in Potter County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Hector that is located in Bullock County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Potter County community of Hector.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hector ...

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.

  • Bread Tray Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bread Tray Hill is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bread Tray Hill
  • Bruceville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Bruceville is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville
  • China Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • China Grove is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Grove
  • Cornerstone
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cornerstone is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerstone
  • High Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • High Ridge is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Hooks Crossroads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hooks Crossroads is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooks Crossroads
  • Jenkins Crossroads
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jenkins Crossroads is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Crossroads
  • Mitchell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mitchell is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Pine Level
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Pine Level is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
  • Postoak
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Postoak is located in Bullock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
  • Shepherd Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shepherd Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherd Hill
  • Stills Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Stills Crossroads is located in Pike County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stills Crossroads

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

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

  • Union Springs, which is the Seat of Bullock County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Hector to Union Springs, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest (NW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 683 miles [1,099.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,281 miles [11,717.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,160 miles [8,304.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hector) 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 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 Hector 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 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 Hector 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 Hector. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1124, Longitude: -85.9088       In this case, the coordinates for Hector have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.055 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.375 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.243 degrees.