RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Jackson County >> Rocky Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rocky Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rocky Springs 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 Rocky Springs:
    • 34.957859, -85.753306
    • 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 Rocky Springs
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Rocky Springs is near Marion County and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Rocky Springs

Communities Also Named Rocky Springs ...

We found eight communities that are also named Rocky Springs.

Within Alabama, the name Rocky Springs is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Cherokee County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Cherokee County and lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Rocky Springs.
    • Maryland
      • Frederick County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Frederick County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Rocky Springs.
    • Mississippi
      • Claiborne County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Claiborne County and lies 352 miles [566.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Claiborne County community of Rocky Springs.
    • Montana
      • Chouteau 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 Montana community of Rocky Springs [Chouteau County].
    • North Carolina
      • Alexander County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Alexander County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alexander County community of Rocky Springs.
      • Rockingham 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 Rocky Springs [Rockingham County].
    • Tennessee
      • Sullivan County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Sullivan County and lies 215 miles [346 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Rocky Springs.
    • Texas
      • Angelina County
      • This Rocky Springs is located in Angelina County and lies 569 miles [915.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Rocky Springs that is located in Jackson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Angelina County community of Rocky Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rocky Springs ...

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.

  • Copenhagen ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Copenhagen is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
  • Edgefield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Edgefield is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgefield
  • Grahams Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grahams Ferry is located in Marion County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grahams Ferry
  • Island Creek Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Island Creek Ferry is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Creek Ferry
  • Long Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Long Island is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
  • Richard City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Richard City is located in Marion County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard City
  • Rudders Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Rudders Ferry is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudders Ferry
  • Summer Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Summer Bluff is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Bluff
  • Sweetens Cove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sweetens Cove is located in Marion County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetens Cove
  • Widows Creek Station
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Widows Creek Station is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widows Creek Station

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

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

  • Scottsboro, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rocky Springs to Scottsboro, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 180 miles [289.7 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 552 miles [888.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,440 miles [10,364.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,151 miles [11,508.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,027 miles [8,090.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Rocky Springs) 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 Rocky Springs 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 Rocky Springs 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 Rocky Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9579, Longitude: -85.7533       In this case, the coordinates for Rocky Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.118 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.843 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.545 degrees.