|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Refuge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Refuge and the surrounding area.
- 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 Refuge:
- 33.650102, -86.117195
- 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 Refuge
- 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 Talladega County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega County
- Since Refuge is near Saint Clair County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Refuge
Communities Also Named Refuge ...
We found five communities that are also named Refuge.
Within Alabama, the name Refuge is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Camden County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Refuge [Camden County].
- Mississippi
- Humphreys County
- This Refuge is located in Humphreys County and lies 245 miles [394.3 km]<2> to the west of the Refuge that is located in Talladega County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humphreys County community of Refuge.
- Washington County
- This Refuge is located in Washington County and lies 290 miles [466.7 km] to the west of the Refuge that is located in Talladega County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Refuge.
- Texas
- Houston County
- This Refuge is located in Houston County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Refuge that is located in Talladega County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Refuge.
- Virginia
- Frederick County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Refuge [Frederick County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Refuge ...
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.
- Blue Eye
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Blue Eye is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Eye
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Boozer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
- Dry Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Dry Valley is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Valley
- Echo Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Echo Hills is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
- Greens Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Greens Mill is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Mill
- Halls Ferry
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Halls Ferry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Ferry
- Lincoln
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Martins Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Martins Mill is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Mill
- Mitchells Ferry
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mitchells Ferry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchells Ferry
- Plum Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Plum Springs is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Springs
- Woods Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Woods Ferry is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Ferry
How Far From Refuge 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 Refuge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Refuge and extending to:
- Talladega, which is the Seat of Talladega County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Refuge to Talladega, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 621 miles [999.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,516 miles [10,486.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,224 miles [11,625.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,101 miles [8,209.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Refuge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Refuge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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 Refuge 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Refuge 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 Refuge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6501, Longitude: -86.1172 In this case, the coordinates for Refuge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.273 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.84 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.994 degrees. |
|
|