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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tuxedo Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tuxedo Heights 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 Tuxedo Heights:
    • 33.527606, -86.876659
    • 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 Tuxedo Heights
  • 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 Tuxedo Heights 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 Tuxedo Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tuxedo Heights ...

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.

  • Coalburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Coalburg is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
    • Former name for Coalburg:
    • Coalburgh
  • Edgewater
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Edgewater is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Falls Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Falls Junction is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Junction
  • Five Points South
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Five Points South is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points South
  • Forestdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Forestdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
  • Frenchtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Frenchtown is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
  • Glen Iris
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Iris is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Iris
  • Glenview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Glenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Green Acres
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Green Acres is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Hillview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hillview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Ivanhoe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Jones Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jones Valley is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Valley
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Little Italy
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Little Italy is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
    • Martins
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Martins is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins
    • Mason City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Mason City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
    • Merrywood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Merrywood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrywood
    • Minor
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Minor is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor
    • Park Courts
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Park Courts is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Courts
    • Shadyside
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Shadyside is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadyside
    • Sunset Mountain
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset Mountain is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Mountain
    • Village Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Village Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek
    • Village Creek Junction
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Zion Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Zion Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Heights

How Far From Tuxedo Heights to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Tuxedo Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Tuxedo Heights and extending to:

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the East.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Tuxedo Heights to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>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 661 miles [1,063.8 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<3> 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).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,263 miles [11,688.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,139 miles [8,270.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tuxedo Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Tuxedo Heights 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 Tuxedo Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5276, Longitude: -86.8767       In this case, the coordinates for Tuxedo Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.722 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.341 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.325 degrees.