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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Northside, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Northside 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 Northside:
    • 34.034542, -85.976916
    • 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 Northside
  • 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 Etowah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Etowah County
    • Since Northside is near Calhoun County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cherokee 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 Northside

Communities Also Named Northside ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Northside.

Within Alabama, the name Northside is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of nineteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nineteen communities, seventeen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Sarasota County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Northside [Sarasota County].
    • Georgia
      • Dougherty County
      • This Northside is located in Dougherty County and lies 197 miles [317 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dougherty County community of Northside.
    • Idaho
      • Ada County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Northside [Ada County].
      • Gem County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Northside [Gem County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Worcester County
      • This Northside is located in Worcester County and lies 944 miles [1,519.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Worcester County community of Northside.
    • Minnesota
      • Freeborn County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Northside [Freeborn County].
    • New York
      • Steuben County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Northside [Steuben County].
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Northside lies 1,899 miles [3,056.1 km]<2> to the northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
    • North Carolina
      • Davidson County
      • This Northside is located in Davidson County and lies 346 miles [556.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davidson County community of Northside.
      • Granville County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Northside [Granville County].
      • Wake County
      • This Northside is located in Wake County and lies 433 miles [696.8 km] to the east northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wake County community of Northside.
      • Wilson County
      • This Northside is located in Wilson County and lies 472 miles [759.6 km] to the east northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Northside.
    • Ohio
      • Hamilton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Northside [Hamilton County].
    • Saskatchewan
      • This Northside lies 1,656 miles [2,665.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
    • Texas
      • Wilbarger County
      • This Northside is located in Wilbarger County and lies 760 miles [1,223.1 km]<2> to the west of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilbarger County community of Northside.
    • Virginia
      • Norfolk City
      • This Northside is located in Norfolk City and lies 581 miles [935 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk City community of Northside.
      • Richmond City
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Northside [Richmond City].
      • Roanoke City
      • This Northside is located in Roanoke City and lies 405 miles [651.8 km] to the northeast of the Northside that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke City community of Northside.
    • Wisconsin
      • La Crosse County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Northside [La Crosse County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Northside ...

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.

  • Cave Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cave Springs is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
  • Crudup
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Crudup is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
  • Daisy
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Daisy is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
  • Edwardsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Edwardsville is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
  • Goodyear
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Goodyear is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodyear
  • Luke
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Luke is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luke
  • Pull Tight ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Pull Tight is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pull Tight
  • Scenic Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Scenic Heights is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Heights
  • Walnut Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Walnut Park is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Park
  • Wisdom Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wisdom Ferry is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisdom Ferry

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

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

  • Gadsden, which is the Seat of Etowah County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Northside to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 598 miles [962.4 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 6,492 miles [10,447.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,201 miles [11,588.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,077 miles [8,170.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Northside 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.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Northside) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Northside 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 Northside. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0345, Longitude: -85.9769       In this case, the coordinates for Northside have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.21 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.82 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.851 degrees.