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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Minor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Minor and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Minor:
    • 33.537328, -86.940549
    • 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 Minor
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Minor is near Walker County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walker County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Minor

Communities Also Named Minor ...

We found five communities that are also named Minor.

Within Alabama, the name Minor is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Minor is located in Hillsborough County and lies 478 miles [769.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Minor that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Minor.
    • Kansas
      • Rawlins 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 Kansas community of Minor [Rawlins County].
    • Kentucky
      • Rowan County
      • This Minor is located in Rowan County and lies 378 miles [608.3 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Minor that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rowan County community of Minor.
    • Texas
      • Lampasas 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 Texas community of Minor [Lampasas County].
    • Virginia
      • Essex County
      • This Minor is located in Essex County and lies 632 miles [1,017.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Minor that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Minor.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Minor ...

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.

  • Booker Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Booker Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booker Heights
  • Cottage Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cottage Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hill
  • Edgewater
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Edgewater is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Falls Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Falls Junction is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Junction
  • Forestdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Forestdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
  • Frenchtown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Frenchtown is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
  • Glenview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Grays Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Grays Gardens is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Gardens
  • Hillview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Ivanhoe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Little Italy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Italy is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
  • Martins
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Martins is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Maytown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Maytown is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Merrywood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Merrywood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrywood
    • Pleasant Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Shadyside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Shadyside is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadyside
    • Sunset Mountain
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunset Mountain is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Mountain
    • Tuxedo Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Tuxedo Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuxedo Heights
    • Union Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
    • Village Creek Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the East.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Minor to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 663 miles [1,067 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 6,556 miles [10,550.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,265 miles [11,691.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,142 miles [8,275.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Minor) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Minor 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Minor 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 Minor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5373, Longitude: -86.9405       In this case, the coordinates for Minor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.761 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.388 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.348 degrees.