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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Smithtown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithtown 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 Smithtown:
    • 30.861019, -88.208615
    • 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 Smithtown
  • 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 Mobile County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mobile County
    • Since Smithtown is near Pickens County and also George County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for George 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 Smithtown

Communities Also Named Smithtown ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Smithtown.

Within Alabama, the name Smithtown is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of fourteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fourteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Mississippi
      • Wayne County
      • This Smithtown is located in Wayne County and lies 49 miles [78.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Smithtown.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Smithtown lies 1,570 miles [2,526.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
    • New Hampshire
      • Rockingham County
      • This Smithtown is located in Rockingham County and lies 1,262 miles [2,031 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Smithtown.
    • New Jersey
      • Hunterdon 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 New Jersey community of Smithtown [Hunterdon County].
    • New York
      • Suffolk County
      • This Smithtown is located in Suffolk County and lies 1,084 miles [1,744.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Smithtown.
    • North Carolina
      • Beaufort County
      • This Smithtown is located in Beaufort County and lies 739 miles [1,189.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaufort County community of Smithtown.
      • Perquimans County
      • This Smithtown is located in Perquimans County and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km] to the east northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perquimans County community of Smithtown.
      • Yadkin County
      • This Smithtown is located in Yadkin County and lies 574 miles [923.8 km] to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yadkin County community of Smithtown.
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Smithtown.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bucks County
      • This Smithtown is located in Bucks County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bucks County community of Smithtown.
      • Jefferson County
      • This Smithtown is located in Jefferson County and lies 880 miles [1,416.2 km] to the north northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Smithtown.
    • Tennessee
      • Bledsoe County
      • This Smithtown is located in Bledsoe County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bledsoe County community of Smithtown.
      • Marion County
      • This Smithtown is located in Marion County and lies 324 miles [521.4 km] to the north northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Smithtown.
    • West Virginia
      • Monongalia County
      • This Smithtown is located in Monongalia County and lies 754 miles [1,213.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Smithtown that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monongalia County community of Smithtown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithtown ...

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.

  • Celeste
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Celeste is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Celeste
  • Chickasaw
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Eight Mile
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Georgetown is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Gulfcrest
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Gulfcrest is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulfcrest
  • Hatters
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hatters is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatters
  • Indian Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Indian Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Indian Springs is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Little Pines
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Little Pines is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Pines
  • Oak Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Oak Grove is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Orchard
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Orchard is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard
  • Ponderosa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ponderosa is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Saraland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Scenic Hills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Scenic Hills is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Hills
    • Spanish Trace
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Spanish Trace is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Trace
    • Whistler
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Whistler is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler
    • Williams Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Williams Heights is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Heights

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

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

  • Mobile, which is the Seat of Mobile County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smithtown to Mobile, with an average speed<4> 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 four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 153 miles [246.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 840 miles [1,351.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,738 miles [10,843.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,440 miles [11,973.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,319 miles [8,560.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Smithtown) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Smithtown 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Smithtown 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 Smithtown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8610, Longitude: -88.2086       In this case, the coordinates for Smithtown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.307 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.654 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.36 degrees.