RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Talladega County >> Owens Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Owens Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owens Ferry 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 Owens Ferry:
    • 33.195671, -86.493870
    • 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 Owens Ferry
  • 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 Talladega County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega County
    • Since Owens Ferry is near Shelby County and also Coosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coosa 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 Owens Ferry

Communities Also Named Owens Ferry ...

We found two communities that are also named Owens Ferry.

Within Alabama, the name Owens Ferry is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Camden 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 Georgia community of Owens Ferry [Camden County].
    • Illinois
      • Massac County
      • This Owens Ferry is located in Massac County and lies 292 miles [469.9 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Owens Ferry that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Massac County community of Owens Ferry.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Owens Ferry ...

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.

  • Fourmile
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fourmile is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
  • Homestead
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Homestead is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
  • Indian Shoals
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Indian Shoals is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Shoals
  • Kingdom Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingdom Crossroads is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingdom Crossroads
  • Mount Sharon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mount Sharon is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sharon
  • Nelson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Nelson is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • Sulphur Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sulphur Spring is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Spring
  • Valentine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Valentine is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine

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

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

  • Talladega, which is the Seat of Talladega County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Owens Ferry to Talladega, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 57 miles [91.7 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 658 miles [1,058.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,554 miles [10,547.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,260 miles [11,683.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,137 miles [8,267.2 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 Owens Ferry 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 '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- Owens Ferry) 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 Owens Ferry 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 Owens Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1957, Longitude: -86.4939       In this case, the coordinates for Owens Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.471 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.006 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.242 degrees.