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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sommerville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sommerville 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 Sommerville:
    • 33.198452, -87.580563
    • 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 Sommerville
  • 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Sommerville is near Hale County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Sommerville

Communities Also Named Sommerville ...

We found one communities that are also named Sommerville.

Within Alabama, the name Sommerville is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • South Dakota
      • Perkins County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Sommerville [Perkins County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sommerville ...

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.

  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Cherry Dale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Dale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Dale
  • Cloverdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cloverdale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Crestdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Crestdale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestdale
  • Dearing Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dearing Place is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Place
  • Fairlawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Fairlawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
  • Fernridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fernridge is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernridge
  • Forest Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Forest Lake is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
  • Gardendale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gardendale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
  • Green Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
  • Green Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Green Valley is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Greenview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Greenview is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Guilds Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Guilds Woods is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilds Woods
    • Hays Court
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Hays Court is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Court
    • Heritage Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Heritage Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
    • Hickory Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Hickory Forest is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Forest
    • High Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • High Forest is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Forest
    • Hillcrest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Hillcrest is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
    • Lincoln Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
    • Meadow Lawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Meadow Lawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lawn
    • Meadowbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Rosedale
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rosedale is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Rosedale Courts
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Rosedale Courts is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale Courts
    • Roselawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Roselawn is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roselawn
    • Royal Pines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Royal Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Pines
    • Snow Terrace
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Snow Terrace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Terrace
    • South Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • South Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Park
    • Twin Manor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Twin Manor is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Manor
    • University Lane
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • University Lane is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Lane
    • University Place
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • University Place is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place

How Far From Sommerville to ...

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sommerville and extending to:

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the East.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Sommerville to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 707 miles [1,137.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,599 miles [10,620.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,309 miles [11,762.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,185 miles [8,344.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Sommerville 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.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sommerville) 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 Sommerville 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 Sommerville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1985, Longitude: -87.5806       In this case, the coordinates for Sommerville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.124 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.762 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.676 degrees.