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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Staffords, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Staffords 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 The Staffords:
    • 33.177341, -87.486949
    • 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 The Staffords
  • 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 The Staffords is near Hale County and also Bibb 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 Bibb 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 The Staffords

Communities Also Named The Staffords ...

We found one communities that are also named The Staffords.

Within Alabama, the name The Staffords is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Antrim 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 Michigan community of The Staffords [Antrim County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Staffords ...

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.

  • Box Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Box Springs is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Springs
  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Cedar Knoll
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cedar Knoll is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Knoll
  • Cherokee Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cherokee Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
  • Cherry Dale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Dale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Dale
  • Cherrywood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cherrywood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Cottondale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Cottonwood Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cottonwood Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood Park
  • Coventry
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Coventry is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Echo Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Echo Hill is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hill
  • Fairway Drive
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Fairway Drive is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Drive
  • Forest Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest Lake is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • High Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • High Point is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Hillswood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Hillswood is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillswood
    • Hurricane Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Hurricane Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Hills
    • Jerusalem Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jerusalem Heights is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem Heights
    • Lake Shore
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Lake Shore is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
    • Lakeview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lakeview is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Lynn Haven
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Lynn Haven is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Haven
    • Meadowbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Peach Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Peach Grove is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Grove
    • Rosewood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosewood is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewood
    • Running Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Running Brook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Sky Ranch
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sky Ranch is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Ranch
    • Skyland Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Skyland Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyland Park
    • Springbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Springbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
    • University
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • University is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
    • Whispering Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Whispering Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills
    • Woodland Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Woodland Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
    • Woodland Pines
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Woodland Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Pines
    • Woodland Terrace
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Woodland Terrace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Terrace

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in The Staffords and extending to:

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<3> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from The Staffords to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>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 5 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 703 miles [1,131.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,596 miles [10,615.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,306 miles [11,757.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,182 miles [8,339.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 The Staffords 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- The Staffords) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 The Staffords 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 The Staffords. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1773, Longitude: -87.4869       In this case, the coordinates for The Staffords have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.066 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.692 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.642 degrees.