RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Etowah County >> The Highlands >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Highlands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Highlands 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 The Highlands:
    • 34.048986, -86.018584
    • 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 The Highlands
  • 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 Etowah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Etowah County
    • Since The Highlands is near Calhoun County and also DeKalb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb 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 The Highlands

Communities Also Named The Highlands ...

We found 47 communities that are also named The Highlands.

There are three communities within Alabama that are also named The Highlands.

Beyond Alabama, we know of 44 communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these 44 communities, 46 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Madison County
      • This The Highlands is located in Madison County and lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of The Highlands.
    • Shelby County
      • This The Highlands is located in Shelby County and lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of The Highlands.
    • Tuscaloosa County
      • This The Highlands is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 104 miles [167.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of The Highlands.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • We haven't found the location of this community yet.
    • California
      • San Mateo County
      • This The Highlands is located in San Mateo County and lies 2,036 miles [3,276.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Mateo County community of The Highlands.
      • Santa Clara County
      • This The Highlands is located in Santa Clara County and lies 2,022 miles [3,254.1 km] to the west northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of The Highlands.
    • Colorado
      • Arapahoe 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 Colorado community of The Highlands [Arapahoe County].
      • Denver 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 Colorado community of The Highlands [Denver County].
      • Jefferson County
      • This The Highlands is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,121 miles [1,804.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of The Highlands.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle 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 Delaware community of The Highlands [New Castle County].
    • Florida
      • Broward 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 Florida community of The Highlands [Broward County].
      • Duval County
      • This The Highlands is located in Duval County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the southeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of The Highlands.
    • Georgia
      • Cobb County
      • This The Highlands is located in Cobb County and lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the east of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cobb County community of The Highlands.
      • Fayette County
      • This The Highlands is located in Fayette County and lies 94 miles [151.3 km] to the east southeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of The Highlands.
      • Paulding County
      • This The Highlands is located in Paulding County and lies 70 miles [112.7 km] to the east southeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Paulding County community of The Highlands.
    • Idaho
      • Ada County
      • This The Highlands is located in Ada County and lies 1,740 miles [2,800.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ada County community of The Highlands.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This The Highlands is located in Cook County and lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<1> to the north of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of The Highlands.
      • DuPage 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 Illinois community of The Highlands [DuPage County].
    • Kentucky
      • Fayette County
      • This The Highlands is located in Fayette County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of The Highlands.
      • Jefferson County
      • This The Highlands is located in Jefferson County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km] to the north of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of The Highlands.
    • Louisiana
      • East Baton Rouge Parish
      • This The Highlands is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and lies 389 miles [626 km]<1> to the southwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Baton Rouge Parish community of The Highlands.
    • Maine
      • Cumberland County
      • This The Highlands is located in Cumberland County and lies 1,072 miles [1,725.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of The Highlands.
      • Piscataquis County
      • This The Highlands is located in Piscataquis County and lies 1,172 miles [1,886.2 km] to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Piscataquis County community of The Highlands.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This The Highlands is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of The Highlands.
      • Calvert County
      • This The Highlands is located in Calvert County and lies 616 miles [991.4 km] to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calvert County community of The Highlands.
      • Cecil County
      • This The Highlands is located in Cecil County and lies 685 miles [1,102.4 km] to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County community of The Highlands.
      • Montgomery 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 Maryland community of The Highlands [Montgomery County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Essex County
      • This The Highlands is located in Essex County and lies 1,006 miles [1,619 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of The Highlands.
      • Hampden County
      • This The Highlands is located in Hampden County and lies 918 miles [1,477.4 km] to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampden County community of The Highlands.
      • Middlesex County
      • This The Highlands is located in Middlesex County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km] to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of The Highlands.
    • New Brunswick
      • This The Highlands lies 1,299 miles [2,090.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
    • New Hampshire
      • Coos County
      • This The Highlands is located in Coos County and lies 1,053 miles [1,694.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coos County community of The Highlands.
    • New Jersey
      • Monmouth 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 New Jersey community of The Highlands [Monmouth County].
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This The Highlands lies 1,699 miles [2,734.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
    • North Carolina
      • Jackson County
      • This The Highlands is located in Jackson County and lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the east northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of The Highlands.
      • Orange County
      • This The Highlands is located in Orange County and lies 413 miles [664.7 km] to the east northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of The Highlands.
    • Ohio
      • Clermont County
      • This The Highlands is located in Clermont County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clermont County community of The Highlands.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Luzerne County
      • This The Highlands is located in Luzerne County and lies 733 miles [1,179.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luzerne County community of The Highlands.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley County
      • This The Highlands is located in Berkeley County and lies 352 miles [566.5 km]<1> to the east of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkeley County community of The Highlands.
      • Greenville County
      • This The Highlands is located in Greenville County and lies 212 miles [341.2 km] to the east northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenville County community of The Highlands.
      • Horry County
      • This The Highlands is located in Horry County and lies 412 miles [663 km] to the east of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Horry County community of The Highlands.
    • Tennessee
      • Grainger County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of The Highlands [Grainger County].
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This The Highlands is located in Harris County and lies 604 miles [972 km]<1> to the west southwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of The Highlands.
      • Hidalgo County
      • This The Highlands is located in Hidalgo County and lies 893 miles [1,437.1 km] to the west southwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of The Highlands.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This The Highlands is located in Davis County and lies 1,487 miles [2,393.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of The Highlands.
    • Virginia
      • Arlington County
      • This The Highlands is located in Arlington County and lies 598 miles [962.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arlington County community of The Highlands.
    • Washington
      • King County
      • This The Highlands is located in King County and lies 2,082 miles [3,350.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the The Highlands that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King County community of The Highlands.

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Highlands ...

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.

  • Cave Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cave Springs is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
  • Crudup
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Crudup is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
  • Daisy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Daisy is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
  • Goodyear
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Goodyear is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodyear
  • Happy Hollow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Happy Hollow is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hollow
  • Pleasant Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Pull Tight ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pull Tight is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pull Tight
  • Scenic Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Scenic Heights is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Heights
  • Walnut Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Park is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Park
  • Wisdom Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wisdom Ferry is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisdom Ferry

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

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

  • Gadsden, which is the Seat of Etowah County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 116 miles [186.7 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from The Highlands to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 600 miles [965.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,493 miles [10,449.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,202 miles [11,590.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,079 miles [8,173.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (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- The Highlands) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 The Highlands 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>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 The Highlands, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 The Highlands 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 The Highlands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0490, Longitude: -86.0186       In this case, the coordinates for The Highlands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.236 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.852 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.865 degrees.