RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Colbert County >> Houston Corner >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Houston Corner, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Houston Corner 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 Houston Corner:
    • 34.729811, -87.634195
    • 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 Houston Corner
  • 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 Colbert County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Since Houston Corner is near Lauderdale County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Houston Corner

Communities Also Named Houston Corner ...

We found one communities that are also named Houston Corner.

Within Alabama, the name Houston Corner is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Houston Corner in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maine
      • Somerset County
      • This Houston Corner is located in Somerset County and lies 1,189 miles [1,913.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Houston Corner that is located in Colbert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Houston Corner.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Houston Corner ...

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 Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Cave Spring is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
  • Florence Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Florence Ferry is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Ferry
  • Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
  • Hobgood
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hobgood is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobgood
  • James
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • James is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
  • Lakeview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Lakeview Highlands
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview Highlands is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Highlands
  • Listerhill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Listerhill is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Listerhill
  • Manor Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Manor Haven is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Haven
  • Mount Pleasant ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Muscle Shoals
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Valley Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Valley Grove is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Grove
  • Woodlawn Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodlawn Heights is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights

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

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

  • Tuscumbia, which is the Seat of Colbert County, lies just to the West.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Houston Corner to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 652 miles [1,049.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,243 miles [11,656.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,119 miles [8,238.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Houston Corner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Houston Corner 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 Houston Corner. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7298, Longitude: -87.6342       In this case, the coordinates for Houston Corner have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.254 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.123 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.378 degrees.