Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mecca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mecca and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mecca
- 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 Mecca:
- 34.954806, -87.561136
- 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 Mecca
- 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 Lauderdale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
- Since Mecca is near Lawrence County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Mecca ...
We found ten communities that share the name Mecca.
Within Alabama, the name Mecca is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Pinellas County
- This Mecca is located in Pinellas County and lies 556 miles [894.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Mecca that is located in Lauderdale County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pinellas County community of Mecca.
- Seminole 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 Florida community of Mecca [Seminole County].
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mecca ...
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.
- Atlas ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Emerald Shores
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Shores
- Emerald Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Falconhead
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falconhead have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falconhead
- Falconhead is located in Lauderdale County
- Green Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Green Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Hideaway Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hideaway Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway Hills
- Hideaway Hills is located in Lauderdale County
- Iron City
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Keys Chapel ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keys Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Chapel
- Keys Chapel is located in Lauderdale County
- Kingman ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Lake Coves
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Coves have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Coves
- Lake Coves is located in Lauderdale County
- Lakeview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Light ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Lock Six
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Continue List (7 more) ...
- Lockland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Palestine ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Posey ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Rascal Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Slabtown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Wolf Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
- Wolf Creek is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Zip City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zip City
- Zip City is located in Lauderdale County
- Lockland
How Far From Mecca 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 Mecca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Mecca once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Mecca and extending to:
- Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mecca to Florence, with an average speed<5> 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 192 miles [309 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 641 miles [1,031.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,514 miles [10,483.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,230 miles [11,635.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,105 miles [8,215.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mecca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mecca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9548, Longitude: -87.5611 In this case, the coordinates for Mecca 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 Mecca 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> | 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 Mecca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Mecca to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.222 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.116 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.298 degrees. |