Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Houstontown

• 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 Houstontown:
  • 34.827309, -87.435023
  • 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 Houstontown

• 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 Lauderdale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
  • Since Houstontown is near Lawrence County and also Colbert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert 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 Houstontown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Houstontown ...

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.

• Aqua Vista
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Aqua Vista is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aqua Vista
• Big Oak
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Big Oak is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Oak
• Center Star
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Center Star is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Star
• Fishermans Resort
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fishermans Resort is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermans Resort
• Ford City
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ford City is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
• Kingman ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Kingman is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman
• Kingtown
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kingtown is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingtown
• Lock Six
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lock Six is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Six
• Lock Three
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lock Three is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Three
• Mitchelltown
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Mitchelltown is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
• Paradise Points
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Paradise Points is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Points
• Red Bank
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
• Shady Grove ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Shady Grove is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
• Virginia Shores
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Virginia Shores is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Shores

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Houstontown and extending to:

• Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Houstontown to Florence, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 181 miles [291.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 638 miles [1,026.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,515 miles [10,484.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,230 miles [11,635.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,106 miles [8,217.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'