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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Normal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Normal 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 Normal:
    • 34.788979, -86.571937
    • 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 Normal
  • 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Since Normal is near Limestone County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Normal

Communities Also Named Normal ...

We found seven communities that are also named Normal.

Within Alabama, the name Normal is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • McLean County
      • This Normal is located in McLean County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Normal that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLean County community of Normal.
    • Indiana
      • Grant County
      • This Normal is located in Grant County and lies 394 miles [634.1 km]<1> to the north of the Normal that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Normal.
    • Kentucky
      • Boyd County
      • This Normal is located in Boyd County and lies 334 miles [537.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Normal that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boyd County community of Normal.
      • Calloway 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 Kentucky community of Normal [Calloway County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Carbon 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 Pennsylvania community of Normal [Carbon County].
    • Tennessee
      • Shelby County
      • This Normal is located in Shelby County and lies 191 miles [307.4 km]<1> to the west of the Normal that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Normal.
    • Virginia
      • Rockingham 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 Virginia community of Normal [Rockingham County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Normal ...

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.

  • Cedar Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Valley is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
  • Chase
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Chase is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
  • Cherokee Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cherokee Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
  • Cherry Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Creek is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Creek
  • Darwin Downs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Darwin Downs is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin Downs
  • Glen Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Glen Park is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Park
  • Greenhill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenhill is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenhill
  • Lincoln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lincoln is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • Meadow Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Meadow Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Hills
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mercury
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Mercury is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercury
    • Rolling Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Rolling Meadows is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Meadows
    • Scenic View
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Scenic View is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic View
    • Shady Lane
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Shady Lane is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Lane
    • Stag Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Stag Run is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stag Run
    • Valley Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Valley Park is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Park

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

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

  • Huntsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 167 miles [268.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Normal to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 597 miles [960.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,481 miles [10,430.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,194 miles [11,577.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,070 miles [8,159.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Normal) 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 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 Normal 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 Normal 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 Normal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7890, Longitude: -86.5719       In this case, the coordinates for Normal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.607 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.384 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.922 degrees.