Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rainsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rainsville and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rainsville
- 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 Rainsville:
- 34.494135, -85.844424
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Rainsville
- 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Since Rainsville is near Jackson County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Rainsville ...
We found three communities that share the name Rainsville.
Within Alabama, the name Rainsville is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Warren County
- This Rainsville is located in Warren County and lies 416 miles [669.5 km]<1> to the north of the Rainsville that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Rainsville.
- New Mexico
- Mora County
- This Rainsville is located in Mora County and lies 1,095 miles [1,762.2 km]<1> to the west of the Rainsville that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mora County community of Rainsville.
- Texas
- Shelby 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 Texas community of Rainsville [Shelby County].
- Indiana
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rainsville ...
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.
- Blake
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Bootsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bootsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Guest
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
- Guest is located in DeKalb County
- Hughes Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Mill
- Hughes Mill is located in DeKalb County
- Luna ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Lydia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Pine Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Plainview
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Pleasant Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Pope
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Rock City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Rainsville 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 city such as Rainsville to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rainsville and extending to:
- Fort Payne, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Rainsville to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 574 miles [923.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,465 miles [10,404.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,175 miles [11,547 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,051 miles [8,128.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rainsville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for DeKalb County: www.dekalbcountyal.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rainsville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rainsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4941, Longitude: -85.8444 In this case, the coordinates for Rainsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rainsville 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 Rainsville to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.153 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.818 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.692 degrees. |