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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Turnbull, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Turnbull 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 Turnbull:
    • 31.714878, -87.131929
    • 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 Turnbull
  • 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
    • Since Turnbull is near Conecuh County and also Wilcox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Conecuh County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilcox 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 Turnbull

Communities Also Named Turnbull ...

We found eight communities that are also named Turnbull.

Within Alabama, the name Turnbull is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Tulare County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Turnbull [Tulare County].
    • Florida
      • Brevard County
      • This Turnbull is located in Brevard County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Turnbull that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brevard County community of Turnbull.
    • Louisiana
      • West Feliciana Parish
      • This Turnbull is located in West Feliciana Parish and lies 260 miles [418.4 km]<2> to the west of the Turnbull that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the West Feliciana Parish community of Turnbull.
    • Manitoba
      • This Turnbull lies 1,690 miles [2,719.8 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Turnbull that is located in Monroe County.
    • Michigan
      • Alpena County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Turnbull [Alpena County].
    • Mississippi
      • Wilkinson County
      • This Turnbull is located in Wilkinson County and lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<2> to the west of the Turnbull that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilkinson County community of Turnbull.
    • Tennessee
      • Dickson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Turnbull [Dickson County].
    • Virginia
      • Fauquier County
      • This Turnbull is located in Fauquier County and lies 709 miles [1,141 km]<2> to the northeast of the Turnbull that is located in Monroe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fauquier County community of Turnbull.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Turnbull ...

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.

  • Chestnut
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut
  • Commerce
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Commerce is located in Conecuh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commerce
  • Fowler
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fowler is located in Conecuh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
  • Green Street
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Green Street is located in Conecuh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Street
  • Harpers Store
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Harpers Store is located in Conecuh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Store
  • Old Texas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Texas is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Texas
  • Pine Orchard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Pine Orchard is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
  • Scotland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Scotland is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
  • Tunnel Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Tunnel Springs is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnel Springs
    • Former name for Tunnel Springs:
    • Kempsville

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

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

  • Monroeville, which is the Seat of Monroe County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Turnbull to Monroeville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 66 miles [106.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 753 miles [1,211.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,651 miles [10,703.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,354 miles [11,835.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,232 miles [8,420.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Turnbull, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Turnbull) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Turnbull 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.
<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 Turnbull 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 Turnbull. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7149, Longitude: -87.1319       In this case, the coordinates for Turnbull have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.745 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.119 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.791 degrees.