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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Waldo, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Waldo 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 Waldo:
    • 33.389187, -86.035987
    • 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 Waldo
  • 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 Talladega County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega County
    • Since Waldo is near Clay County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Waldo

Communities Also Named Waldo ...

We found twenty communities that are also named Waldo.

Within Alabama, the name Waldo is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Columbia County
      • This Waldo is located in Columbia County and lies 418 miles [672.7 km]<1> to the west of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Waldo.
    • British Columbia
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the British Columbia community of Waldo.
    • California
      • Marin County
      • This Waldo is located in Marin County and lies 2,056 miles [3,308.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of Waldo.
    • Florida
      • Alachua County
      • This Waldo is located in Alachua County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alachua County community of Waldo.
    • Illinois
      • Livingston County
      • This Waldo is located in Livingston County and lies 534 miles [859.4 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Livingston County community of Waldo.
    • Kansas
      • Russell County
      • This Waldo is located in Russell County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Russell County community of Waldo.
    • Kentucky
      • Magoffin County
      • This Waldo is located in Magoffin County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Magoffin County community of Waldo.
    • Maine
      • Waldo County
      • This Waldo is located in Waldo County and lies 1,185 miles [1,907.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Waldo County community of Waldo.
    • Michigan
      • Berrien 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 Waldo [Berrien County].
    • Minnesota
      • Lake County
      • This Waldo is located in Lake County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Waldo.
    • Mississippi
      • Neshoba County
      • This Waldo is located in Neshoba County and lies 192 miles [309 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neshoba County community of Waldo.
    • Missouri
      • Jackson County
      • This Waldo is located in Jackson County and lies 613 miles [986.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Waldo.
      • Webster County
      • This Waldo is located in Webster County and lies 460 miles [740.3 km] to the northwest of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster County community of Waldo.
    • New Jersey
      • Hudson 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 New Jersey community of Waldo [Hudson County].
    • New Mexico
      • Santa Fe County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New Mexico community of Waldo [Santa Fe County].
    • Ohio
      • Marion County
      • This Waldo is located in Marion County and lies 514 miles [827.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Waldo.
    • Oregon
      • Josephine County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oregon community of Waldo [Josephine County].
    • Texas
      • Kinney 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 Texas community of Waldo [Kinney County].
    • West Virginia
      • Putnam 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 West Virginia community of Waldo [Putnam County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Sheboygan County
      • This Waldo is located in Sheboygan County and lies 717 miles [1,153.9 km]<1> to the north of the Waldo that is located in Talladega County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sheboygan County community of Waldo.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Waldo ...

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.

  • Chambers Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Chambers Springs is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers Springs
  • Curry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Curry is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry
  • Erin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Erin is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Fair Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Fair Park is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Park
  • Hall Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Hall Grove is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Grove
  • Jonesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jonesville is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
  • Providence
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Providence is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Stockdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Stockdale is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockdale
  • Thornhill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Thornhill is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
  • Tucktown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Tucktown is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucktown

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

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

  • Talladega, which is the Seat of Talladega County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 71 miles [114.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Waldo 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 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 629 miles [1,012.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,525 miles [10,501 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,231 miles [11,637.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,109 miles [8,222.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Waldo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Waldo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Waldo 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 Waldo 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 Waldo. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3892, Longitude: -86.0360       In this case, the coordinates for Waldo have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.21 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.731 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.019 degrees.