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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Powhatan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Powhatan 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 Powhatan:
    • 33.590663, -87.108609
    • 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 Powhatan
  • 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 Powhatan is near Walker County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walker 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 Powhatan

Communities Also Named Powhatan ...

We found ten communities that are also named Powhatan.

Within Alabama, the name Powhatan is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Lawrence County
      • This Powhatan is located in Lawrence County and lies 285 miles [458.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Powhatan.
    • Louisiana
      • Natchitoches Parish
      • This Powhatan is located in Natchitoches Parish and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Natchitoches Parish community of Powhatan.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Powhatan is located in Baltimore County and lies 698 miles [1,123.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Powhatan.
    • North Carolina
      • Johnston County
      • This Powhatan is located in Johnston County and lies 513 miles [825.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnston County community of Powhatan.
    • Ohio
      • Belmont 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 Ohio community of Powhatan [Belmont County].
    • Virginia
      • Campbell County
      • This Powhatan is located in Campbell County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Campbell County community of Powhatan.
      • Powhatan County
      • This Powhatan is located in Powhatan County and lies 583 miles [938.2 km] to the east northeast of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Powhatan County community of Powhatan.
      • Richmond County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Richmond County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Powhatan.
    • West Virginia
      • Marshall 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 West Virginia community of Powhatan [Marshall County].
      • McDowell County
      • This Powhatan is located in McDowell County and lies 413 miles [664.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Powhatan that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDowell County community of Powhatan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Powhatan ...

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.

  • Alliance
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Alliance is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
  • Flat Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Flat Creek is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Creek
  • Glaze Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Glaze Ferry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glaze Ferry
  • Maxine
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Maxine is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxine
  • Pumpkin Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pumpkin Center is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
  • Reeds Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
  • Short Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
  • Snow Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Snow Ferry is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Ferry
  • Wilderness Garden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilderness Garden is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilderness Garden
  • Williams Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Williams Ferry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ferry

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Powhatan to Birmingham, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 95 miles [152.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 669 miles [1,076.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,561 miles [10,558.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,271 miles [11,701.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,147 miles [8,283.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Powhatan) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Powhatan 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Powhatan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Powhatan 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 Powhatan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5907, Longitude: -87.1086       In this case, the coordinates for Powhatan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.866 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.516 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.405 degrees.