RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Chilton County >> Samaria >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Samaria, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Samaria 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 Samaria:
    • 32.819015, -86.631926
    • 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 Samaria
  • 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 Chilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chilton County
    • Since Samaria is near Coosa County and also Autauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coosa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Autauga 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 Samaria

Communities Also Named Samaria ...

We found ten communities that are also named Samaria.

Within Alabama, the name Samaria is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Oneida County
      • This Samaria is located in Oneida County and lies 1,540 miles [2,478.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oneida County community of Samaria.
    • Indiana
      • Johnson County
      • This Samaria is located in Johnson County and lies 455 miles [732.3 km]<1> to the north of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Samaria.
    • Kansas
      • Montgomery 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 Kansas community of Samaria [Montgomery County].
    • Kentucky
      • Greenup County
      • This Samaria is located in Greenup County and lies 438 miles [704.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenup County community of Samaria.
    • Michigan
      • Monroe County
      • This Samaria is located in Monroe County and lies 642 miles [1,033.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Samaria.
    • North Carolina
      • Nash County
      • This Samaria is located in Nash County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nash County community of Samaria.
    • South Carolina
      • Lexington County
      • This Samaria is located in Lexington County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lexington County community of Samaria.
    • Tennessee
      • Putnam County
      • This Samaria is located in Putnam County and lies 235 miles [378.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Samaria.
    • Texas
      • Navarro County
      • This Samaria is located in Navarro County and lies 556 miles [894.8 km]<1> to the west of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Navarro County community of Samaria.
    • West Virginia
      • Marion County
      • This Samaria is located in Marion County and lies 586 miles [943.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Samaria that is located in Chilton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Samaria.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Samaria ...

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.

  • Cooper
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cooper is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
  • Enterprise
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Enterprise is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Gap of the Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Gap of the Mountain is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap of the Mountain
  • Highland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Houses Ferry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Houses Ferry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houses Ferry
  • Jumbo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jumbo is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumbo
  • Mineral Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mineral Springs is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
  • Mountain Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Creek is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Creek
  • Mulberry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mulberry is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
  • New Convert
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • New Convert is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Convert
  • Pleasant Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Pools Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pools Crossroads is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pools Crossroads
  • Union Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Union Grove is located in Chilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove

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

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

  • Clanton, which is the Seat of Chilton County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Samaria to Montgomery, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 680 miles [1,094.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,283 miles [11,720.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,160 miles [8,304.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Samaria) 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 Samaria 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 Samaria 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 Samaria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8190, Longitude: -86.6319       In this case, the coordinates for Samaria have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.529 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.021 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.376 degrees.