Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Thurston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thurston and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Thurston
- 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 Thurston:
- 31.014902, -85.781878
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Thurston
- 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 Geneva County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Geneva County
- Since Thurston is near Holmes County and also Dale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Holmes County
- eBird sighting report for Dale 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Thurston ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Thurston.
Within Alabama, the name Thurston is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Douglas County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Douglas County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Thurston.
- Thurston County
- This Thurston is located in Thurston County and lies 978 miles [1,573.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Thurston that is located in Geneva County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Thurston.
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thurston ...
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.
- Dundee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Dundee is located in Geneva County
- Geneva
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geneva have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Geneva is located in Geneva County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,262 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geneva <5>
- High Bluff
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bluff
- High Bluff is located in Geneva County
- Highfalls
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Highnote
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Holland Crossroads
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holland Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland Crossroads
- Holland Crossroads is located in Holmes County (FL)
- Kellys Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kellys Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Crossroads
- Kellys Crossroads is located in Geneva County
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
How Far From Thurston 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 Thurston to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thurston and extending to:
- Geneva, which is the Seat of Geneva County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Thurston to Montgomery, with an average speed<6>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 734 miles [1,181.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,626 miles [10,663.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,322 miles [11,783.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,203 miles [8,373.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thurston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
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 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 Thurston 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thurston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thurston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.0149, Longitude: -85.7819 In this case, the coordinates for Thurston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Thurston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Thurston to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.902 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.046 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.418 degrees. |