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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pennington, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pennington 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 Pennington:
    • 32.206959, -88.055776
    • 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 Pennington
  • 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 Choctaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
    • Since Pennington is near Marengo County and also Sumter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marengo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter 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 Pennington

Communities Also Named Pennington ...

We found seventeen communities that are also named Pennington.

Within Alabama, the name Pennington is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of seventeen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, sixteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Jackson County
      • This Pennington is located in Jackson County and lies 290 miles [466.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Pennington.
    • British Columbia
      • This Pennington lies 2,852 miles [4,589.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
    • California
      • Sutter County
      • This Pennington is located in Sutter County and lies 1,940 miles [3,122.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sutter County community of Pennington.
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This Pennington is located in New Castle County and lies 874 miles [1,406.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Pennington.
    • Georgia
      • Morgan County
      • This Pennington is located in Morgan County and lies 275 miles [442.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Pennington.
      • Sumter County
      • This Pennington is located in Sumter County and lies 231 miles [371.8 km] to the east of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of Pennington.
    • Kansas
      • Pennington #
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Pennington.
    • Minnesota
      • Beltrami County
      • This Pennington is located in Beltrami County and lies 1,107 miles [1,781.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beltrami County community of Pennington.
    • New Jersey
      • Mercer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Jersey community of Pennington [Mercer County].
    • New Mexico
      • Union County
      • This Pennington is located in Union County and lies 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Pennington.
    • North Carolina
      • Stanly County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Pennington [Stanly County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Huntingdon County
      • This Pennington is located in Huntingdon County and lies 802 miles [1,290.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Huntingdon County community of Pennington.
    • South Dakota
      • Minnehaha County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Pennington [Minnehaha County].
    • Texas
      • Trinity County
      • This Pennington is located in Trinity County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the west of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trinity County community of Pennington.
    • Virginia
      • Lee County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Pennington [Lee County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Oneida County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Pennington [Oneida County].
      • Price County
      • This Pennington is located in Price County and lies 928 miles [1,493.5 km]<1> to the north of the Pennington that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Price County community of Pennington.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pennington ...

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.

  • Campground
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Campground is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campground
  • Chapel Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Choctaw City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Choctaw City is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw City
  • Edna
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Edna is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
  • Gays Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Gays Ferry is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays Ferry
  • Geneva
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Geneva is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Half Acre
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Half Acre is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Acre
    • Former names for Half Acre:
    • Hell's Half Acre
    • Luther's Store
  • Indian Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Little Walker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Little Walker is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Walker
  • Lotts Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Lotts Ferry is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lotts Ferry
  • Murphys Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Murphys Ferry is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphys Ferry
  • Persimmon Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Persimmon Grove is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persimmon Grove

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

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

  • Butler, which is the Seat of Choctaw County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Pennington to Butler, 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 103 miles [165.8 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 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 771 miles [1,240.8 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,667 miles [10,729.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,374 miles [11,867.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,251 miles [8,450.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pennington) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Pennington 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.
<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 Pennington 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 Pennington. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.2070, Longitude: -88.0558       In this case, the coordinates for Pennington have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.335 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.87 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.058 degrees.