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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shahan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shahan 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 Shahan:
    • 33.974264, -86.189977
    • 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 Shahan
  • 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 Etowah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Etowah County
    • Since Shahan is near Saint Clair County and also Blount 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 Blount 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 Shahan

Communities Also Named Shahan ...

We found one communities that are also named Shahan.

Within Alabama, the name Shahan is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Shahan in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • West Virginia
      • Upshur County
      • This Shahan is located in Upshur County and lies 470 miles [756.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Shahan that is located in Etowah County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Upshur County community of Shahan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shahan ...

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.

  • Egypt
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Egypt is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
  • Gallant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gallant is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallant
  • Gilbert
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gilbert is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
  • Gum Springs ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Gum Springs is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Happy Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Happy Hollow is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hollow
  • Hood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Hood is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
  • Hopper
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopper is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopper
  • Lester
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lester is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
  • Littleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Littleton is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
  • Moodys Chapel
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Moodys Chapel is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moodys Chapel
  • Nix ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Nix is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
  • Redbud
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Redbud is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud
  • Walnut Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Walnut Park is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Park

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Shahan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Shahan and extending to:

  • Gadsden, which is the Seat of Etowah County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shahan to Gadsden, with an average speed<3> 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 110 miles [177 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 611 miles [983.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,213 miles [11,608.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,089 miles [8,190 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Shahan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Shahan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Shahan 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 Shahan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9743, Longitude: -86.1900       In this case, the coordinates for Shahan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.335 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.956 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.951 degrees.