Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Topton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Topton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Topton
- 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 Topton:
- 31.286282, -88.150006
- 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 Topton
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Topton is near Choctaw County and also Mobile County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
- eBird sighting report for Mobile 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 Topton ...
We found four communities that share the name Topton.
Within Alabama, the name Topton is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Topton ...
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.
- Deer Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
- Deer Park is located in Washington County
- Dwight
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - German Ford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for German Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Ford
- German Ford is located in Washington County
- Happy Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hill
- Happy Hill is located in Washington County
- Laurel Shanty Landing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel Shanty Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Shanty Landing
- Laurel Shanty Landing is located in Washington County
- Malcolm
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malcolm
- Malcolm is located in Washington County
- Manns Ferry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manns Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manns Ferry
- Manns Ferry is located in Choctaw County
- Seaboard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Sunflower
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunflower
- Sunflower is located in Washington County
- Uniform
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Vinegar Bend
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinegar Bend
- Vinegar Bend is located in Washington County
How Far From Topton 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 Topton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Topton and extending to:
- Chatom, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Topton to Chatom, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 132 miles [212.4 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 817 miles [1,314.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,715 miles [10,806.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,419 miles [11,939.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,297 miles [8,524.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Topton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Washington County: www.washingtoncountyalgov.com
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 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 Topton 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Topton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Topton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.2863, Longitude: -88.1500 In this case, the coordinates for Topton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Topton to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.312 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.718 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.263 degrees. |