Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mill
- 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 Mill:
- 33.906487, -86.394983
- 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 Mill
- 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 Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Mill is near Etowah County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Mill ...
We found four communities that share the name Mill.
Within Alabama, the name Mill is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mill ...
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.
- Allgood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Bird ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Champion
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Cool Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cool Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
- Cool Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Graystone
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Holly Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Blount County
- Hoods Crossroads
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoods Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Maudlin ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Moodys Chapel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moodys Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moodys Chapel
- Moodys Chapel is located in Etowah County
- Mountain View
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in Blount County
- Murphy Ford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Ford
- Murphy Ford is located in Blount County
- Nix ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Straight Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Straight Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
How Far From Mill to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Mill 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<4> community of Mill once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Mill and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 105 miles [169 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Mill to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 623 miles [1,002.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,516 miles [10,486.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,225 miles [11,627.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,101 miles [8,209.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blount County: www.co.blount.al.us/
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- Mill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9065, Longitude: -86.3950 In this case, the coordinates for Mill 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 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 Mill 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> | 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 Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Mill 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 313.454 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.085 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.048 degrees. |