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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laney, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laney 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 Laney:
    • 33.901210, -85.901635
    • 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 Laney
  • 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Since Laney is near Etowah County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Etowah County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Laney

Communities Also Named Laney ...

We found three communities that are also named Laney.

Within Alabama, the name Laney is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Mitchell County
      • This Laney is located in Mitchell County and lies 215 miles [346 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Laney that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mitchell County community of Laney.
    • South Carolina
      • Chesterfield 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 South Carolina community of Laney [Chesterfield County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Shawano County
      • This Laney is located in Shawano County and lies 752 miles [1,210.2 km]<1> to the north of the Laney that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shawano County community of Laney.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laney ...

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.

  • Crystal Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Crystal Springs is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Duke
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Duke is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
  • Fowler Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fowler Ferry is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Ferry
  • Hebron ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hebron is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hill Top ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hill Top is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
  • Keysburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Keysburg is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysburg
  • Millie ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Millie is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millie
  • Oak Grove ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Peek's Hill ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Peek's Hill is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peek's Hill
  • Reads Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Reads Mill is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reads Mill
  • Rock Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rock Spring is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Spring
  • Sulphur Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs

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

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

  • Anniston, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Laney to Anniston, with an average speed<3> 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 107 miles [172.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 601 miles [967.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,496 miles [10,454.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,203 miles [11,592.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,080 miles [8,175.5 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Laney) 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 Laney 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 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 Laney 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 Laney. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9012, Longitude: -85.9016       In this case, the coordinates for Laney have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.158 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.742 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.851 degrees.