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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ponderosa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ponderosa 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 Ponderosa:
    • 30.729356, -88.258339
    • 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 Ponderosa
  • 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 Mobile County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mobile County
    • Since Ponderosa is near George County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for George County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Ponderosa

Communities Also Named Ponderosa ...

We found 21 communities that are also named Ponderosa.

Within Alabama, the name Ponderosa is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of 21 communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Pulaski County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Pulaski County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Ponderosa.
    • California
      • Tulare County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Tulare County and lies 1,776 miles [2,858.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tulare County community of Ponderosa.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Hillsborough County and lies 409 miles [658.2 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Ponderosa.
    • Georgia
      • Fayette County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Fayette County and lies 293 miles [471.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Ponderosa.
      • Fulton County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Fulton County and lies 295 miles [474.8 km] to the northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Ponderosa.
      • Toombs County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Toombs County and lies 367 miles [590.6 km] to the east northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Toombs County community of Ponderosa.
    • Kentucky
      • Grayson County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Grayson County and lies 471 miles [758 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Ponderosa.
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Montgomery County and lies 855 miles [1,376 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Ponderosa.
    • New Mexico
      • Bernalillo County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Bernalillo County and lies 1,085 miles [1,746.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bernalillo County community of Ponderosa.
      • Sandoval County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Sandoval County and lies 1,114 miles [1,792.8 km] to the west northwest of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sandoval County community of Ponderosa.
    • North Carolina
      • Cumberland 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 Ponderosa [Cumberland County].
      • Wake County
      • Although located in Wake County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wake County community of Ponderosa.
      • Wilson County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Wilson County and lies 691 miles [1,112.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Ponderosa.
    • North Dakota
      • Burleigh 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 Dakota community of Ponderosa [Burleigh County].
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Charleston County and lies 500 miles [804.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charleston County community of Ponderosa.
      • Florence County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Florence County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km] to the east northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Florence County community of Ponderosa.
      • Greenville County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Greenville County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km] to the northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenville County community of Ponderosa.
    • Tennessee
      • Roane County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Roane County and lies 415 miles [667.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roane County community of Ponderosa.
      • Rutherford County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Rutherford County and lies 379 miles [609.9 km] to the north northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Ponderosa.
    • Virginia
      • Mecklenburg County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Ponderosa.
    • West Virginia
      • Wood County
      • This Ponderosa is located in Wood County and lies 708 miles [1,139.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Ponderosa that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Ponderosa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ponderosa ...

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.

  • Deerwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Deerwood is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
  • Indian Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Springs is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Orchard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Orchard is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard
  • Park Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Park Forest is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest
  • Pine Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Run is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Run
  • Regency
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Regency is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
  • Scenic Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Scenic Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Hills
  • Seven Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Seven Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Hills
  • Sugar Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sugar Creek is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
  • Tanner Williams
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Tanner Williams is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Williams
  • Timbers
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Timbers is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbers

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

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

  • Mobile, which is the Seat of Mobile County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ponderosa to Mobile, 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 161 miles [259.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 848 miles [1,364.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,746 miles [10,856.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,448 miles [11,986.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,327 miles [8,573 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- Ponderosa) 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Ponderosa 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 Ponderosa 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 Ponderosa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.7294, Longitude: -88.2583       In this case, the coordinates for Ponderosa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.324 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.656 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.402 degrees.