RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Bibb County >> Loacke Ford >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Loacke Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Loacke Ford 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 Loacke Ford:
    • 33.165395, -87.029993
    • 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 Loacke Ford
  • 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 Bibb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb County
    • Since Loacke Ford is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Loacke Ford

Curious and Interesting Names Near Loacke Ford ...

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.

  • Booth Ford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Booth Ford is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth Ford
  • Flat Top
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat Top is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Top
  • Glen Carbon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Carbon is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Carbon
  • Gray Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gray Hill is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Hill
  • Hebron
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hebron is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Italian Town
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Italian Town is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
  • Marvel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Marvel is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
  • Masena
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Masena is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masena
  • Pea Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pea Ridge is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Ridge
  • Piper
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Piper is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper
  • Sawmill Town
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
  • Stacks Hill ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Stacks Hill is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacks Hill

How Far From Loacke Ford to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Loacke Ford to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Centreville, which is the Seat of Bibb County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Loacke Ford to Centreville, with an average speed<2> 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 68 miles [109.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 683 miles [1,099.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,578 miles [10,586.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,286 miles [11,725.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,162 miles [8,307.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Loacke Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Loacke Ford 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 Loacke Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1654, Longitude: -87.0300       In this case, the coordinates for Loacke Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.791 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.371 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.462 degrees.