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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithson 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 Smithson:
    • 33.309835, -86.952492
    • 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 Smithson
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Smithson is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Smithson

Communities Also Named Smithson ...

We found three communities that are also named Smithson.

Within Alabama, the name Smithson is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Shasta County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Smithson.
    • Indiana
      • White County
      • This Smithson is located in White County and lies 511 miles [822.4 km]<2> to the north of the Smithson that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the White County community of Smithson.
    • Montana
      • Garfield County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Smithson [Garfield County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithson ...

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.

  • Chestnut Glen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Glen
  • Fox Trace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Fox Trace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Trace
  • Greenwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Greenwood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Hickory Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Hilltop
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hilltop is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Hopewell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hopewell is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Loveless Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Loveless Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveless Park
  • Pleasant Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Rockdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
  • Shadywood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Shadywood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadywood
  • Summit Farm
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Summit Farm is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Farm
  • Weeping Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Weeping Oaks is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Oaks
  • Whispering Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Whispering Oaks is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Oaks

How Far From Smithson to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Smithson to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smithson to Birmingham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 74 miles [119.1 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 most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 673 miles [1,083.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving 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 6,568 miles [10,570.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,276 miles [11,709.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,152 miles [8,291.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Smithson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Smithson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Smithson 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 Smithson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3098, Longitude: -86.9525       In this case, the coordinates for Smithson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.753 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.348 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.401 degrees.