Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Homer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Homer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Homer
- 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 Homer:
- 34.263427, -85.907193
- 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 Homer
- 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Since Homer is near Cherokee County and also Etowah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- eBird sighting report for Etowah 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 Homer ...
We found 29 communities that share the name Homer.
Within Alabama, the name Homer is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another 29 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 29 communities, 28 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- This Homer lies 3,372 miles [5,426.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Calhoun County
- This Homer is located in Calhoun County and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<1> to the north of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Homer.
- Iron 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 Michigan community of Homer [Iron County].
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Atchison County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Atchison County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Atchison County community of Homer.
- Stone County
- This Homer is located in Stone County and lies 449 miles [722.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stone County community of Homer.
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Licking County
- This Homer is located in Licking County and lies 453 miles [729 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Licking County community of Homer.
- Medina County
- This Homer is located in Medina County and lies 511 miles [822.4 km] to the north northeast of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Medina County community of Homer.
- Union County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Union County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Homer.
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Angelina County
- This Homer is located in Angelina County and lies 546 miles [878.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Angelina County community of Homer.
- Jasper County
- This Homer is located in Jasper County and lies 533 miles [857.8 km] to the west southwest of the Homer that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Homer.
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Alaska
Curious and Interesting Names Near Homer ...
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.
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Crossville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossville
- Crossville is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,847 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crossville <5>
- Flanders
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Gilbert Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilbert Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Crossroads
- Gilbert Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Greenwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Lay Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lay Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lay Springs
- Lay Springs is located in Etowah County
- Leonard
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Marcus ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Portersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
- Portersville is located in DeKalb County
- Scrougeout ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scrougeout have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scrougeout
- Scrougeout is located in Etowah County
- Yancy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Homer 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 Homer 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 community of Homer once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Homer and extending to:
- Fort Payne, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Homer to Fort Payne, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the south (S). 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 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 586 miles [943.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,479 miles [10,426.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,188 miles [11,568 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,064 miles [8,149.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for DeKalb County: www.dekalbcountyal.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Homer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Homer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2634, Longitude: -85.9072 In this case, the coordinates for Homer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Homer 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 Homer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Homer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.18 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.817 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.771 degrees. |