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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Jeff:
    • 34.822761, -86.713588
    • 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 Jeff
  • 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Since Jeff is near Limestone County and also Colbert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone 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 Jeff

Communities Also Named Jeff ...

We found six communities that are also named Jeff.

Within Alabama, the name Jeff is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Clay County
      • This Jeff is located in Clay County and lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Jeff that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Jeff.
    • Indiana
      • Wells County
      • This Jeff is located in Wells County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<1> to the north of the Jeff that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wells County community of Jeff.
    • Kentucky
      • Perry County
      • This Jeff is located in Perry County and lies 258 miles [415.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Jeff that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perry County community of Jeff.
    • Mississippi
      • Newton County
      • This Jeff is located in Newton County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Jeff that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Jeff.
    • Missouri
      • Newton 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 Missouri community of Jeff [Newton County].
      • Oregon County
      • This Jeff is located in Oregon County and lies 286 miles [460.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Jeff that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oregon County community of Jeff.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jeff ...

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.

  • Cedar Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Cherokee Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Cherokee Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
  • Cherry Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Creek is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Five Points is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • French Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • French Hill is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Hill
  • Grove Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Grove Park is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Harvest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hoover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoover is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
  • Indian Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Indian Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Rainbow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Rainbow is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow
  • Rideout Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rideout Village is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rideout Village
  • Rolling Meadows
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rolling Meadows is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Meadows
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Scenic View
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Scenic View is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic View
    • Shady Lane
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Shady Lane is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Lane
    • Stag Run
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Stag Run is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stag Run
    • Summit Place
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Summit Place is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Place
    • Valley Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Valley Park is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Park

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

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

  • Huntsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Jeff to Huntsville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 170 miles [273.6 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 603 miles [970.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,485 miles [10,436.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,199 miles [11,585.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,075 miles [8,167.4 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Jeff) 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 Jeff 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Jeff 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 Jeff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8228, Longitude: -86.7136       In this case, the coordinates for Jeff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.695 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.49 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.973 degrees.