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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sunflower, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunflower 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 Sunflower:
    • 31.379179, -88.004817
    • 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 Sunflower
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Sunflower is near Clarke County and also Choctaw County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw 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 Sunflower

Communities Also Named Sunflower ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Sunflower.

Within Alabama, the name Sunflower is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa 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 Arizona community of Sunflower [Maricopa County].
    • Colorado
      • Conejos 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 Colorado community of Sunflower [Conejos County].
    • Kansas
      • Johnson County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Johnson County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Sunflower.
      • Mitchell County
      • This community is historic and although located in Mitchell County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mitchell County community of Sunflower.
      • Wyandotte County
      • This Sunflower is located in Wyandotte County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<3> to the northwest of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wyandotte County community of Sunflower.
    • Mississippi
      • Prentiss County
      • This Sunflower is located in Prentiss County and lies 229 miles [368.5 km]<3> to the north of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prentiss County community of Sunflower.
      • Sunflower County
      • This Sunflower is located in Sunflower County and lies 210 miles [338 km] to the northwest of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sunflower County community of Sunflower.
    • Nebraska
      • Scotts Bluff County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Scotts Bluff County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scotts Bluff County community of Sunflower.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Beaver County
      • This Sunflower is located in Beaver County and lies 777 miles [1,250.5 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaver County community of Sunflower.
    • Utah
      • Sunflower #
      • 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 Utah community of Sunflower.
    • West Virginia
      • Raleigh 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 West Virginia community of Sunflower [Raleigh County].
      • Roane County
      • This Sunflower is located in Roane County and lies 636 miles [1,023.5 km]<3> to the north northeast of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roane County community of Sunflower.
    • Wisconsin
      • Oneida County
      • This Sunflower is located in Oneida County and lies 999 miles [1,607.7 km]<3> to the north of the Sunflower that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oneida County community of Sunflower.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunflower ...

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.

  • Carson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Choctaw Bluff
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Choctaw Bluff is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw Bluff
  • German Ford
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • German Ford is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Ford
  • Happy Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Happy Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hill
  • Holders Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Holders Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holders Ferry
  • Laurel Shanty Landing
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Laurel Shanty Landing is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Shanty Landing
  • Leroy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Malcolm
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Manns Ferry
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Manns Ferry is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manns Ferry
  • Rockville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Seaboard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Silver Landing
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Landing is located in Baldwin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Landing
  • Uniform
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Uniform is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniform

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

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

  • Chatom, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sunflower to Chatom, 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 121 miles [194.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 807 miles [1,298.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,704 miles [10,789 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,408 miles [11,922 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,286 miles [8,507 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Sunflower, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Sunflower 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Sunflower) 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 Sunflower 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 Sunflower. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3792, Longitude: -88.0048    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.234 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.64 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.19 degrees.