RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Marshall County >> Smith Shores >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smith Shores, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smith Shores 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 Smith Shores:
    • 34.360092, -86.348595
    • 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 Smith Shores
  • 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall County
    • Since Smith Shores is near Blount County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Smith Shores

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smith Shores ...

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.

  • Claysville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Claysville is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
  • Crossroads
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Crossroads is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
  • Diamond
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Diamond is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Ferns Quarter ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferns Quarter is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferns Quarter
  • Fort Deposit ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Deposit is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Deposit
  • Grassy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Grassy is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy
  • Gregory
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gregory is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
  • Hide Away Acres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hide Away Acres is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hide Away Acres
  • Honey Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Honey Ferry is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Ferry
  • Lakeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Meadow Wood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Wood is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Wood
  • Mountain View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Marshall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Neighbors Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Neighbors Mill is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neighbors Mill
    • Playground Shores
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Playground Shores is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Playground Shores
    • Scant City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Scant City is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scant City
    • Street ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Street is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Street
    • Sunrise Shores
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunrise Shores is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Shores

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

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

  • Guntersville, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Smith Shores to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 603 miles [970.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,492 miles [10,447.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,203 miles [11,592.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,079 miles [8,173.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smith Shores) 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 Smith Shores 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 Smith Shores. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3601, Longitude: -86.3486       In this case, the coordinates for Smith Shores have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.45 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.143 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.928 degrees.