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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Phoenixville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Phoenixville 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 Phoenixville:
    • 33.455941, -86.894158
    • 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 Phoenixville
  • 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 Phoenixville is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa 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 Phoenixville

Communities Also Named Phoenixville ...

We found two communities that are also named Phoenixville.

Within Alabama, the name Phoenixville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Windham County
      • This Phoenixville is located in Windham County and lies 994 miles [1,599.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Phoenixville that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windham County community of Phoenixville.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Chester County
      • This Phoenixville is located in Chester County and lies 778 miles [1,252.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Phoenixville that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of Phoenixville.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Phoenixville ...

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.

  • Crescent Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Glenview
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Glenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Gordon Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordon Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
  • Green Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Green Acres is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Hillman
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillman is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
  • Hillman Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillman Gardens is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Gardens
  • Hillman Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillman Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Park
  • Ivanhoe
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Jones Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jones Valley is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Valley
  • Martins
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Martins is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins
  • Mason City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mason City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
  • Park Courts
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Park Courts is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Courts
  • Walnut Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Phoenixville to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Phoenixville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 82 miles [132 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Phoenixville 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 664 miles [1,068.6 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,558 miles [10,554.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,267 miles [11,695.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,143 miles [8,276.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Phoenixville) 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 Phoenixville 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 Phoenixville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4559, Longitude: -86.8942       In this case, the coordinates for Phoenixville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.728 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.338 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.347 degrees.