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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McLendon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McLendon 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 McLendon:
    • 32.154875, -85.094377
    • 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 McLendon
  • 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 Russell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Since McLendon is near Stewart County and also Barbour County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stewart County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Barbour 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 McLendon

Communities Also Named McLendon ...

We found two communities that are also named McLendon.

Within Alabama, the name McLendon is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Early County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of McLendon [Early County].
    • Texas
      • Rockwall County
      • This McLendon is located in Rockwall County and lies 659 miles [1,060.6 km]<2> to the west of the McLendon that is located in Russell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockwall County community of McLendon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near McLendon ...

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.

  • Childs Place
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Childs Place is located in Stewart County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs Place
  • Florence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Florence is located in Stewart County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Glenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenville is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenville
  • Heard Place
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Heard Place is located in Stewart County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heard Place
  • Holy Trinity
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Holy Trinity is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Trinity
  • Hooks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Hooks is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooks
  • Persons
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Persons is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persons
  • Power Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Power Place is located in Stewart County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Power Place
  • Spring Grove ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Spring Grove is located in Stewart County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove

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

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

  • Phenix City, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from McLendon to Phenix City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 648 miles [1,042.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,543 miles [10,529.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,241 miles [11,653.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,121 miles [8,241.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about McLendon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- McLendon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 McLendon 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 McLendon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1549, Longitude: -85.0944       In this case, the coordinates for McLendon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.583 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.835 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.924 degrees.