RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Dale County >> Midland City >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Midland City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Midland City 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 Midland City:
    • 31.315611, -85.493581
    • 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 Midland City
  • 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 Dale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dale County
    • Since Midland City is near Houston County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Midland City

Communities Also Named Midland City ...

We found three communities that are also named Midland City.

Within Alabama, the name Midland City is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Gila County
      • This Midland City is located in Gila County and lies 1,480 miles [2,381.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Midland City that is located in Dale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gila County community of Midland City.
    • Illinois
      • De Witt County
      • This Midland City is located in De Witt County and lies 642 miles [1,033.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Midland City that is located in Dale County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the De Witt County community of Midland City.
    • Ohio
      • Clinton 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 Ohio community of Midland City [Clinton County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Midland City ...

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.

  • Chickasaw Heights
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Chickasaw Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw Heights
  • Clark Crossroads
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Clark Crossroads is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Crossroads
  • Five Points
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Five Points is located in Dale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Green Acres
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Green Acres is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Griffin Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Griffin Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Heights
  • Jones Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jones Crossroads is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
  • Kelly Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kelly Springs is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Springs
  • Lewis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lewis is located in Dale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
  • Peach Tree Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Peach Tree Hills is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Tree Hills
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Peterman
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Peterman is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterman
    • Plainview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Plainview is located in Dale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Rock Creek Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rock Creek Park is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Park
    • Silver Meadows
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Silver Meadows is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Meadows
    • Whispering Pines
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Young America
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Young America is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America

How Far From Midland City 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 town such as Midland City to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ozark, which is the Seat of Dale County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Midland City to Ozark, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 708 miles [1,139.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,295 miles [11,740.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,177 miles [8,331.6 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Midland City) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Midland City 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 Midland City 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 Midland City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3156, Longitude: -85.4936       In this case, the coordinates for Midland City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.758 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.921 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.251 degrees.