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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Southpointe, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southpointe 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 Southpointe:
    • 33.321223, -86.889157
    • 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 Southpointe
  • 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 Southpointe is near Jefferson County and also Tuscaloosa 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 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 Southpointe

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southpointe ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Glen
  • Eden Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Eden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Ridge
  • Greenwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Greenwood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Helena
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • High Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • High Point is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Hilltop
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilltop is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Hopewell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopewell is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Mars Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mars Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
  • Paramount
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Paramount is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
  • Rolling Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rolling Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
  • Roy Ford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Roy Ford is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Ford
  • Royal Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Shades Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Shades Run is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shades Run
    • Shadywood
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Shadywood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadywood
    • Weeping Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Weeping Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Oaks
    • Whispering Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Whispering Oaks is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Oaks

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

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

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southpointe to Columbiana, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 73 miles [117.5 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 670 miles [1,078.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,564 miles [10,563.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,273 miles [11,704.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,149 miles [8,286.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Southpointe) 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 Southpointe 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 Southpointe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3212, Longitude: -86.8892       In this case, the coordinates for Southpointe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.716 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.306 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.373 degrees.