RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Limestone County >> Ridgway Mill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ridgway Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ridgway Mill 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 Ridgway Mill:
    • 34.935362, -87.192238
    • 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 Ridgway Mill
  • 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 Limestone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone County
    • Since Ridgway Mill is near Lauderdale County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Ridgway Mill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ridgway Mill ...

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.

  • Cairo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cairo is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
  • Cedar Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Grove is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Cedar Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Confluence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
  • Good Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Good Springs is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
  • Gourdsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gourdsville is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gourdsville
  • Grassy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Grassy is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy
  • Hurricane ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hurricane is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Lester
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lester is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
  • Moody Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Moody Ford is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody Ford
  • Pleasant Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Romine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Romine is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romine
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Scarce Grease
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Scarce Grease is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarce Grease
    • Shoemaker Springs ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Shoemaker Springs is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoemaker Springs
    • Sugar ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Sugar is located in Lauderdale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar
    • Union Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Union Hill is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Ridgway Mill and extending to:

  • Athens, which is the Seat of Limestone County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ridgway Mill to Athens, with an average speed<2> 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 183 miles [294.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 623 miles [1,002.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,500 miles [10,460.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,215 miles [11,611.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,090 miles [8,191.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Ridgway Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Ridgway Mill 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 Ridgway Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9354, Longitude: -87.1922       In this case, the coordinates for Ridgway Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.994 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.85 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.148 degrees.