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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Parker Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parker Heights 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 Parker Heights:
    • 33.556215, -86.751378
    • 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 Parker Heights
  • 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 Parker Heights is near Blount County and also Shelby 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 Shelby 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 Parker Heights

Communities Also Named Parker Heights ...

We found one communities that are also named Parker Heights.

Within Alabama, the name Parker Heights is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Parker Heights in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Wicomico County
      • This Parker Heights is located in Wicomico County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Parker Heights that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wicomico County community of Parker Heights.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Parker Heights ...

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.

  • Airport Highlands
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Airport Highlands is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Highlands
  • Danville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Danville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
  • Forest Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Forest Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Gate City
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
  • Kingsway Terrace
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Kingsway Terrace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsway Terrace
  • Marks Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
  • Mountain Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Mountain Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
  • Plain View
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Plain View is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain View
  • Trotwood Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Trotwood Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotwood Park
  • Vulcan City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Vulcan City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan City
  • Woodlawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
  • Woodlawn Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Woodlawn Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights
  • Zion City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Zion City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Parker Heights 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 654 miles [1,052.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,547 miles [10,536.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,256 miles [11,677.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,133 miles [8,260.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Parker Heights) 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 Parker Heights 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 Parker Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5562, Longitude: -86.7514       In this case, the coordinates for Parker Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.648 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.26 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.268 degrees.