RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Saginaw, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saginaw 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 Saginaw:
    • 33.216226, -86.791932
    • 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 Saginaw
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Saginaw is near Jefferson County and also Chilton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chilton 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 Saginaw

Communities Also Named Saginaw ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Saginaw.

Within Alabama, the name Saginaw is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eleven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This Saginaw is located in Cochise County and lies 1,350 miles [2,172.6 km]<1> to the west of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cochise County community of Saginaw.
    • Arkansas
      • Hot Spring County
      • This Saginaw is located in Hot Spring County and lies 360 miles [579.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hot Spring County community of Saginaw.
    • Georgia
      • Coffee County
      • This Saginaw is located in Coffee County and lies 267 miles [429.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Saginaw.
    • Michigan
      • Saginaw County
      • This Saginaw is located in Saginaw County and lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the north of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saginaw County community of Saginaw.
    • Minnesota
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Saginaw is located in Saint Louis County and lies 987 miles [1,588.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Saginaw.
    • Missouri
      • Newton County
      • This Saginaw is located in Newton County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Saginaw.
    • New York
      • Franklin 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 New York community of Saginaw [Franklin County].
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Saginaw.
    • Oregon
      • Lane County
      • This Saginaw is located in Lane County and lies 2,071 miles [3,333 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of Saginaw.
    • Pennsylvania
      • York County
      • This Saginaw is located in York County and lies 732 miles [1,178 km]<1> to the northeast of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Saginaw.
    • Texas
      • Tarrant County
      • This Saginaw is located in Tarrant County and lies 612 miles [984.9 km]<1> to the west of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Saginaw.
    • Washington
      • Grays Harbor County
      • This Saginaw is located in Grays Harbor County and lies 2,128 miles [3,424.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Saginaw that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grays Harbor County community of Saginaw.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saginaw ...

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.

  • Alabaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Dearing Downs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
  • Elliotsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Elliotsville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
  • Glen Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Forest is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Hardy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hardy is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
  • Ivanhoe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Keystone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Keystone is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Kingwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
  • Longview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Longview is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Meadow Green
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Green is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Green
  • Mission Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mission Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
  • Navajo Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Navajo Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Hills
  • Navajo Pines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Navajo Pines is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Pines
  • Willow Glen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Willow Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Glen

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

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

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Saginaw to Columbiana, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 670 miles [1,078.3 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 6,565 miles [10,565.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,273 miles [11,704.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,150 miles [8,288.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Saginaw) 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 Saginaw 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Saginaw 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 Saginaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2162, Longitude: -86.7919       In this case, the coordinates for Saginaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.651 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.217 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.356 degrees.