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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lyle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lyle 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 Lyle:
    • 32.888735, -86.335252
    • 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 Lyle
  • 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 Coosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coosa County
    • Since Lyle is near Chilton County and also Elmore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chilton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elmore 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 Lyle

Communities Also Named Lyle ...

We found nine communities that are also named Lyle.

Within Alabama, the name Lyle is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Decatur County
      • This Lyle is located in Decatur County and lies 911 miles [1,466.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Lyle that is located in Coosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Decatur County community of Lyle.
    • Michigan
      • Alpena 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 Michigan community of Lyle [Alpena County].
      • Gladwin County
      • This Lyle is located in Gladwin County and lies 761 miles [1,224.7 km]<1> to the north of the Lyle that is located in Coosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gladwin County community of Lyle.
    • Minnesota
      • Mower County
      • This Lyle is located in Mower County and lies 815 miles [1,311.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Lyle that is located in Coosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mower County community of Lyle.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lawrence 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 Lyle [Lawrence County].
      • Mercer County
      • This Lyle is located in Mercer County and lies 658 miles [1,058.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Lyle that is located in Coosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Lyle.
    • Tennessee
      • Hickman 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 Tennessee community of Lyle [Hickman County].
    • Virginia
      • Botetourt 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 Virginia community of Lyle [Botetourt County].
    • Washington
      • Klickitat County
      • This Lyle is located in Klickitat County and lies 2,044 miles [3,289.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Lyle that is located in Coosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Klickitat County community of Lyle.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lyle ...

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.

  • Dollar
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Dollar is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar
  • Gold Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Gold Branch is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Branch
  • Houses Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Houses Ferry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houses Ferry
  • Kellys Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Kellys Crossroads is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Crossroads
  • Knights Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Knights Ferry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Ferry
  • Richville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Richville is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richville
  • Speed
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Speed is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speed
  • Travelers Rest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Travelers Rest is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Travelers Rest
  • Unity
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Unity is located in Coosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity

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

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

  • Rockford, which is the Seat of Coosa County, lies just to the East.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Lyle to Montgomery, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 664 miles [1,068.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,562 miles [10,560.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,267 miles [11,695.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,144 miles [8,278.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lyle) 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 Lyle 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 Lyle 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 Lyle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8887, Longitude: -86.3353       In this case, the coordinates for Lyle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.358 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.832 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.245 degrees.