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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Thornhill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thornhill 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 Thornhill:
    • 33.427330, -86.752488
    • 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 Thornhill
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Thornhill is near Shelby County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount 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 Thornhill

Communities Also Named Thornhill ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Thornhill.

There are three communities within Alabama that are also named Thornhill.

Beyond Alabama, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, eight are located in the United States and four are in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Greene County
      • This Thornhill is located in Greene County and lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Thornhill.
    • Marion County
      • This Thornhill is located in Marion County and lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Thornhill.
    • Talladega County
      • This Thornhill is located in Talladega County and lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the east of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Talladega County community of Thornhill.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Thornhill lies 2,480 miles [3,991.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Kentucky
      • Jefferson County
      • This Thornhill is located in Jefferson County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the north of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Thornhill.
    • Manitoba
      • This Thornhill lies 1,238 miles [1,992.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Nova Scotia
      • 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 Nova Scotia community of Thornhill.
    • Ohio
      • Carroll County
      • This Thornhill is located in Carroll County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Thornhill.
    • Ontario
      • This Thornhill lies 817 miles [1,314.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny 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 Pennsylvania community of Thornhill [Allegheny County].
    • Virginia
      • Orange County
      • This Thornhill is located in Orange County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Thornhill that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Thornhill.
    • West Virginia
      • Mercer 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 Thornhill [Mercer County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thornhill ...

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.

  • Camp Horne
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Camp Horne is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Horne
  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Cherokee Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cherokee Forest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Forest
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Coventry
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Coventry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Havenview
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Havenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenview
  • Hidden Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hidden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Ridge
  • Ivy Glenn
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Ivy Glenn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Glenn
  • Longleaf
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Longleaf is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
  • Panorama
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Panorama is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama
  • Riverwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Riverwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
  • Rocky Bridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Bridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bridge
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rocky Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
    • Tangle Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Tangle Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangle Creek
    • Tanglewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Tanglewood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Timber Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
    • Twin Bridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Bridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridge
    • Wine Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Wine Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Ridge

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Thornhill 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 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 659 miles [1,060.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,554 miles [10,547.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,262 miles [11,687.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,138 miles [8,268.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Thornhill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Thornhill 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>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 Thornhill 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 Thornhill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4273, Longitude: -86.7525       In this case, the coordinates for Thornhill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.641 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.234 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.296 degrees.