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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tidwell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tidwell and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Tidwell:
    • 31.242953, -85.410489
    • 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 Tidwell
  • 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 Houston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Houston County
    • Since Tidwell is near Dale County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Tidwell

Communities Also Named Tidwell ...

We found four communities that are also named Tidwell.

Within Alabama, the name Tidwell is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Taney 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 Missouri community of Tidwell [Taney County].
    • Tennessee
      • Dickson County
      • This Tidwell is located in Dickson County and lies 347 miles [558.4 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Tidwell that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dickson County community of Tidwell.
      • Hickman County
      • This Tidwell is located in Hickman County and lies 340 miles [547.2 km] to the north northwest of the Tidwell that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hickman County community of Tidwell.
    • Texas
      • Hunt County
      • This Tidwell is located in Hunt County and lies 638 miles [1,026.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Tidwell that is located in Houston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hunt County community of Tidwell.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tidwell ...

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.

  • Chickasaw Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chickasaw Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw Heights
  • Cottondale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cottondale is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottondale
  • Forest Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Park is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Green Acres
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Acres is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Griffin Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Griffin Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Heights
  • Jones Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones Crossroads is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
  • Kelly Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kelly Springs is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Springs
  • Melody Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Melody Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melody Heights
  • Parish
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Peach Tree Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Peach Tree Hills is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Tree Hills
  • Rock Creek Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Creek Park is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Park
  • Shady Heights
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Shady Heights is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Heights
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Silver Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Meadows is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Meadows
    • Stadium Place
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stadium Place is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stadium Place
    • Whispering Pines
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Young America
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Young America is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Young America

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

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

  • Dothan, which is the Seat of Houston County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Tidwell 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 6 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 708 miles [1,139.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,295 miles [11,740.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,176 miles [8,330 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Tidwell 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 '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- Tidwell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Tidwell 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 Tidwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2430, Longitude: -85.4105       In this case, the coordinates for Tidwell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.705 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.85 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.235 degrees.