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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vanderbilt, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vanderbilt 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 Vanderbilt:
    • 33.549827, -86.786935
    • 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 Vanderbilt
  • 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 Vanderbilt is near Blount County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Vanderbilt

Communities Also Named Vanderbilt ...

We found eight communities that are also named Vanderbilt.

Within Alabama, the name Vanderbilt is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Vanderbilt is located in San Bernardino County and lies 1,620 miles [2,607.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vanderbilt that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Vanderbilt.
    • Colorado
      • Ouray County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Vanderbilt [Ouray County].
    • Florida
      • Collier County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Vanderbilt [Collier County].
    • Michigan
      • Otsego County
      • This Vanderbilt is located in Otsego County and lies 808 miles [1,300.3 km]<1> to the north of the Vanderbilt that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Otsego County community of Vanderbilt.
    • Nevada
      • Eureka County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Vanderbilt [Eureka County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette County
      • This Vanderbilt is located in Fayette County and lies 595 miles [957.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Vanderbilt that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Vanderbilt.
    • South Dakota
      • Campbell County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Vanderbilt [Campbell County].
    • Texas
      • Jackson County
      • This Vanderbilt is located in Jackson County and lies 665 miles [1,070.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vanderbilt that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Vanderbilt.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vanderbilt ...

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.

  • Airport Highlands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Airport Highlands is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Highlands
  • Danville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Danville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
  • English Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • English Village is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
  • Five Points South
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Five Points South is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points South
  • Forest Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Gate City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
  • Kingsway Terrace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Kingsway Terrace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsway Terrace
  • Lewisburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewisburg is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Marks Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
  • Mountain Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Mountain Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
  • Plain View
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Plain View is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plain View
  • Trotwood Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Trotwood Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotwood Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Village Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Village Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek
    • Vulcan City
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Vulcan City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan City
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
    • Woodlawn Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights
    • Zion City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Zion City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
    • Zion Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Zion Heights is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Heights

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Vanderbilt 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 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 656 miles [1,055.7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,549 miles [10,539.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,258 miles [11,680.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,134 miles [8,262.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Vanderbilt) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Vanderbilt 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.
<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 Vanderbilt, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Vanderbilt 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 Vanderbilt. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5498, Longitude: -86.7869       In this case, the coordinates for Vanderbilt have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.669 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.283 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.284 degrees.