RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Monroe County >> Old Salem >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Salem, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Salem 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 Old Salem:
    • 31.539606, -87.406099
    • 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 Old Salem
  • 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Since Old Salem is near Clarke County and also Conecuh County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Conecuh 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 Old Salem

Communities Also Named Old Salem ...

We found four communities that are also named Old Salem.

Within Alabama, the name Old Salem is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • North Carolina
      • Mecklenburg County
      • This Old Salem is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 455 miles [732.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Old Salem that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Old Salem.
    • Tennessee
      • Franklin County
      • This Old Salem is located in Franklin County and lies 253 miles [407.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Old Salem that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Old Salem.
    • Texas
      • Bowie County
      • This Old Salem is located in Bowie County and lies 435 miles [700.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Old Salem that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bowie County community of Old Salem.
      • Newton County
      • This Old Salem is located in Newton County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km] to the west of the Old Salem that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Old Salem.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Salem ...

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.

  • Axle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Axle is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axle
  • Excel
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Excel is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excel
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 619 people
  • Finchburg ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Finchburg is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchburg
  • Fountain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fountain is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain
  • Halls Crossroads
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Halls Crossroads is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Crossroads
  • Howard Landing
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Howard Landing is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Landing
  • Keith
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Keith is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
  • Masons Ferry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Masons Ferry is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masons Ferry
  • Olivers Ferry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Olivers Ferry is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Ferry
  • Peterman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Peterman is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterman
  • Scotland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Scotland is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
  • Scratch Ankle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Scratch Ankle is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scratch Ankle

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

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

  • Monroeville, which is the Seat of Monroe County, lies just to the East.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Old Salem to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>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 773 miles [1,244 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,671 miles [10,735.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,374 miles [11,867.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,252 miles [8,452.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Salem) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Old Salem 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 Old Salem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5396, Longitude: -87.4061       In this case, the coordinates for Old Salem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.893 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.266 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.93 degrees.