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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Plain View, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Plain View 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 Plain View:
    • 33.574549, -86.771379
    • 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 Plain View
  • 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 Plain View 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 Plain View

Communities Also Named Plain View ...

We found six communities that are also named Plain View.

Within Alabama, the name Plain View is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Jefferson County
      • This Plain View is located in Jefferson County and lies 309 miles [497.3 km]<1> to the west of the Plain View that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Plain View.
    • Iowa
      • Scott 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 Iowa community of Plain View [Scott County].
    • North Carolina
      • Richmond County
      • This Plain View is located in Richmond County and lies 416 miles [669.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Plain View that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Plain View.
      • Sampson County
      • This Plain View is located in Sampson County and lies 481 miles [774.1 km] to the east northeast of the Plain View that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sampson County community of Plain View.
    • Virginia
      • King and Queen County
      • This Plain View is located in King and Queen County and lies 628 miles [1,010.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Plain View that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the King and Queen County community of Plain View.
      • Powhatan County
      • This Plain View is located in Powhatan County and lies 568 miles [914.1 km] to the east northeast of the Plain View that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Powhatan County community of Plain View.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Plain View ...

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
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Airport Highlands is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Highlands
  • Danville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Danville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
  • Gate City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
  • Kingsway Terrace
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Kingsway Terrace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsway Terrace
  • Lewisburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Lewisburg is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Marks Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] 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 south)
    • Mountain Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
  • Spring Garden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Spring Garden is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
  • Trotwood Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Trotwood Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotwood Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Village Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Village Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek
    • Vulcan City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Vulcan City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan City
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
    • Woodlawn Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights
    • Zion City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Zion City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
    • Zion Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Zion Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Heights

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Plain View to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>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<4> 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).<5>
  • 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).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,133 miles [8,260.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Plain View) 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 Plain View 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 Plain View 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 Plain View. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5745, Longitude: -86.7714       In this case, the coordinates for Plain View have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.661 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.278 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.272 degrees.