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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Irondale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Irondale 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 Irondale:
    • 33.533777, -86.676950
    • 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 Irondale
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Irondale is near Blount County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Irondale

Communities Also Named Irondale ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Irondale.

Within Alabama, the name Irondale is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Adams County
      • This Irondale is located in Adams County and lies 1,096 miles [1,763.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Adams County community of Irondale.
      • 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 Irondale [Arapahoe County].
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This Irondale is located in Clayton County and lies 133 miles [214 km]<1> to the east of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of Irondale.
    • Illinois
      • Cook 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 Illinois community of Irondale [Cook County].
    • Indiana
      • Madison County
      • This Irondale is located in Madison County and lies 456 miles [733.9 km]<1> to the north of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Irondale.
    • Missouri
      • Washington County
      • This Irondale is located in Washington County and lies 371 miles [597.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Irondale.
    • New York
      • Dutchess County
      • This Irondale is located in Dutchess County and lies 922 miles [1,483.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dutchess County community of Irondale.
      • Herkimer County
      • This Irondale is located in Herkimer County and lies 924 miles [1,487 km] to the northeast of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Herkimer County community of Irondale.
    • Ohio
      • Jefferson County
      • This Irondale is located in Jefferson County and lies 585 miles [941.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Irondale.
      • Muskingum 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 Ohio community of Irondale [Muskingum County].
    • Ontario
      • This Irondale lies 897 miles [1,443.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Columbia 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 Pennsylvania community of Irondale [Columbia County].
    • Virginia
      • Wise County
      • This Irondale is located in Wise County and lies 317 miles [510.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Irondale that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Irondale.
    • Washington
      • Jefferson 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 Washington community of Irondale [Jefferson County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Irondale ...

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.

  • Battleground
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Battleground is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
  • Cherokee Bend
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cherokee Bend is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Bend
  • Five Points East
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Five Points East is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points East
  • Holiday Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Holiday Gardens is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Gardens
  • Hunters Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hunters Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Hill
  • Liberty Highlands
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Liberty Highlands is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Highlands
  • Marks Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
  • Moore Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Moore Corner is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Corner
  • Mountain Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Mountain Forest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Forest
  • Rock Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
  • Rose Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rose Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Saddlebrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Saddlebrook is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddlebrook

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the West.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 82 miles [132 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Irondale to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,545 miles [10,533.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,254 miles [11,674.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,130 miles [8,255.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Irondale) 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 Irondale 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 Irondale, 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 Irondale 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 Irondale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5338, Longitude: -86.6770       In this case, the coordinates for Irondale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.602 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.204 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.243 degrees.