Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mars Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mars Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mars Hill
- 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 Mars Hill:
- 33.352055, -86.844434
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Mars Hill
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Mars Hill is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Mars Hill ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Mars Hill.
There are three communities within Alabama that are also named Mars Hill.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Chilton County
- Cleburne County
- Lauderdale County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Lafayette 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 Arkansas community of Mars Hill [Lafayette County].
- Pope County
- This Mars Hill is located in Pope County and lies 375 miles [603.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Mars Hill that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pope County community of Mars Hill.
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Amite County
- This Mars Hill is located in Amite County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Mars Hill that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Mars Hill.
- Forrest County
- This Mars Hill is located in Forrest County and lies 202 miles [325.1 km] to the southwest of the Mars Hill that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Forrest County community of Mars Hill.
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Lawrence County
- This Mars Hill is located in Lawrence County and lies 134 miles [215.7 km]<1> to the north of the Mars Hill that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Mars Hill.
- Rhea County
- This Mars Hill is located in Rhea County and lies 199 miles [320.3 km] to the north northeast of the Mars Hill that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rhea County community of Mars Hill.
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mars Hill ...
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.
- Eden Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Ridge
- Eden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- High Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Jefferson County
- Indian Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Indian Hills is located in Shelby County
- Ivy Chase
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Paramount
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Polo Trace
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polo Trace have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
- Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
- Rolling Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
- Rolling Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Roy Ford
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Royal Oaks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
- Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
- Shades Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shades Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shades Run
- Shades Run is located in Jefferson County
- Shadywood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Weeping Oaks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weeping Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Oaks
- Weeping Oaks is located in Shelby County
- Whispering Oaks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Oaks
- Whispering Oaks is located in Jefferson County
How Far From Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mars Hill and extending to:
- Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Mars Hill to Birmingham, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 74 miles [119.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 667 miles [1,073.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,561 miles [10,558.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,269 miles [11,698.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,146 miles [8,281.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mars Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffcointouch.com/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mars Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mars Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3521, Longitude: -86.8444 In this case, the coordinates for Mars Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Mars Hill 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Mars Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.691 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.282 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.349 degrees. |