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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old White Hall, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old White Hall 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 White Hall:
    • 32.263475, -87.608338
    • 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 White Hall
  • 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 Marengo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marengo County
    • Since Old White Hall is near Wilcox County and also Dallas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilcox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dallas 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 White Hall

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old White Hall ...

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.

  • Catherine
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Catherine is located in Wilcox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
  • Flatwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Flatwood is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
  • Freetown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Freetown is located in Perry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freetown
  • Half Chance
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Half Chance is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Chance
  • Hugo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hugo is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
  • Kings ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kings is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings
  • Lyon ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lyon is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon
  • Magnolia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Octagon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Octagon is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octagon

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Old White Hall once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Old White Hall and extending to:

  • Linden, which is the Seat of Marengo County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Old White Hall to Linden, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 76 miles [122.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 748 miles [1,203.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,645 miles [10,694.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,351 miles [11,830.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,228 miles [8,413.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Old White Hall, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old White Hall) 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 Old White Hall 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 White Hall. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.2635, Longitude: -87.6083       In this case, the coordinates for Old White Hall have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.072 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.573 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.871 degrees.