Tidbits & Trivia

Introduction ...

Below is our collection of tidbits and odds 'n ends for North Florence.

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for North Florence

• 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 North Florence:
  • 34.818421, -87.680584<1>
  • 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 North Florence

• 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:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
  • Since North Florence is near Colbert County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 North Florence

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Florence ...

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.

• Cypress Creek
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Cypress Creek is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
• Cypress Forest
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cypress Forest is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Forest
• Cypress Heights
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cypress Heights is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Heights
• Florence
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Florence is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,166 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <2>
• Florence Ferry
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Florence Ferry is located in Colbert County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Ferry
• Hickory Hills
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Hickory Hills is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
• Mars Hill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Mars Hill is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
• Petersville
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Petersville is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
• Three Forks
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Three Forks is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
• Twin Brooks
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Twin Brooks is also located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Brooks

How Far From North Florence 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 included the distance from a community such as North Florence to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in North Florence and extending to:

• Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies just to the South.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<3> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from North Florence to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
• The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,525 miles [10,501 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,241 miles [11,653.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,117 miles [8,235 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>