RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Morgan County >> Thomas Place >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thomas Place, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thomas Place 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 Thomas Place:
    • 34.320098, -86.993064
    • 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 Thomas Place
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Thomas Place is near Cullman County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cullman County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Thomas Place

Communities Also Named Thomas Place ...

We found two communities that are also named Thomas Place.

Within Alabama, the name Thomas Place is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Thomas Place is located in San Bernardino County and lies 1,610 miles [2,591 km]<1> to the west of the Thomas Place that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Thomas Place.
    • Nevada
      • Eureka County
      • This Thomas Place is located in Eureka County and lies 1,650 miles [2,655.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Thomas Place that is located in Morgan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eureka County community of Thomas Place.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thomas Place ...

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.

  • Battleground
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Battleground is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
  • Camp Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Camp Ground is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Ground
  • Cedar Plains
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Plains is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Plains
  • Centerville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Centerville is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Central
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Central is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Dripping Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Dripping Springs is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dripping Springs
  • Leesdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Leesdale is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesdale
  • Longview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Longview is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Maple Forks
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Maple Forks is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Forks
  • Piney Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Piney Grove is located in Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
  • Tanner Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tanner Heights is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Heights

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

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

  • Decatur, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Thomas Place to Decatur, with an average speed<2> 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 five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 139 miles [223.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). 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 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 635 miles [1,021.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,521 miles [10,494.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,233 miles [11,640.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,109 miles [8,222.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Thomas Place) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Thomas Place 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 Thomas Place. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3201, Longitude: -86.9931       In this case, the coordinates for Thomas Place have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.839 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.586 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.201 degrees.