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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Simmsville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Simmsville 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 Simmsville:
    • 33.324556, -86.708875
    • 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 Simmsville
  • 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 Simmsville is near Jefferson County and also Talladega 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 Talladega 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 Simmsville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Simmsville ...

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.

  • Fungo Hollow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fungo Hollow is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fungo Hollow
  • Heritage Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Heritage Oaks is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Oaks
  • Hickory Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
  • Hunters Glen ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • Indian Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Indian Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs Ranch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs Ranch is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Ranch
  • Indian Springs Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
  • Indian Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Valley is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
  • Mallard Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mallard Point is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Point
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Meadow Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Meadow Ridge is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Ridge
    • Meadowbrook
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Quail Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Quail Run is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Sunnymeadows
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Sunnymeadows is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnymeadows
    • Valley Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Valley Station is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Station
    • Wine Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wine Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Ridge

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

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

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Simmsville to Columbiana, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 69 miles [111 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 662 miles [1,065.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,264 miles [11,690.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,141 miles [8,273.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Simmsville) 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 Simmsville 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 Simmsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3246, Longitude: -86.7089       In this case, the coordinates for Simmsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.608 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.182 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.30 degrees.