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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Palmerdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Palmerdale 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 Palmerdale:
    • 33.738687, -86.645899
    • 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 Palmerdale
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Palmerdale is near Blount County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Palmerdale

Curious and Interesting Names Near Palmerdale ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Arrowhead is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Center Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Chalkville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Clay
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Columbus
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Columbus is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
  • Eagle Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Ridge
  • Echo Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Echo Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
  • Kiowa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Kiowa is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiowa
  • Larkwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Larkwood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkwood
  • Majestic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Majestic is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majestic
  • Pine Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Mountain is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain
  • Self Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Self Creek is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Self Creek
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Selfville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Selfville is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
    • Sueann
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sueann is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sueann
    • Sunnyside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunnyside is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Thermal ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Thermal is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermal
    • Village Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Palmerdale and extending to:

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Palmerdale to Birmingham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 96 miles [154.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 641 miles [1,031.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,534 miles [10,515.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,244 miles [11,658.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,120 miles [8,239.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Palmerdale) 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 Palmerdale 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 Palmerdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7387, Longitude: -86.6459    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.596 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.225 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.186 degrees.