RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Choctaw County >> Water Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Water Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Water Valley 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 Water Valley:
    • 31.894042, -88.393080
    • 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 Water Valley
  • 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 Choctaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
    • Since Water Valley is near Clarke County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Water Valley

Communities Also Named Water Valley ...

We found fourteen communities that are also named Water Valley.

Within Alabama, the name Water Valley is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Water Valley lies 1,894 miles [3,048.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
    • Colorado
      • Kiowa County
      • This Water Valley is located in Kiowa County and lies 913 miles [1,469.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kiowa County community of Water Valley.
    • Georgia
      • Gordon 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 Georgia community of Water Valley [Gordon County].
    • Illinois
      • Union County
      • This Water Valley is located in Union County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<1> to the north of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Water Valley.
    • Indiana
      • Lake 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 Indiana community of Water Valley [Lake County].
    • Kentucky
      • Graves County
      • This Water Valley is located in Graves County and lies 323 miles [519.8 km]<1> to the north of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Graves County community of Water Valley.
    • Mississippi
      • Yalobusha County
      • This Water Valley is located in Yalobusha County and lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yalobusha County community of Water Valley.
    • Missouri
      • Clay County
      • Although located in Clay County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Water Valley.
    • New Mexico
      • Roosevelt County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Roosevelt County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roosevelt County community of Water Valley.
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • This Water Valley is located in Erie County and lies 910 miles [1,464.5 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Water Valley.
    • Tennessee
      • Dickson 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 Tennessee community of Water Valley [Dickson County].
      • Humphreys County
      • This Water Valley is located in Humphreys County and lies 286 miles [460.3 km]<1> to the north of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humphreys County community of Water Valley.
      • Maury County
      • This Water Valley is located in Maury County and lies 274 miles [441 km] to the north northeast of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maury County community of Water Valley.
    • Texas
      • Tom Green County
      • This Water Valley is located in Tom Green County and lies 723 miles [1,163.6 km]<1> to the west of the Water Valley that is located in Choctaw County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tom Green County community of Water Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Water Valley ...

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.

  • Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Creek is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek
  • Flatwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Flatwood is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
  • Gilbertown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Horn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Horn is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn
  • Junction City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Junction City is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
  • Land
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Land is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Land
  • Lou
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Lou is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lou
  • Melvin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Melvin is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
  • Pierces Springs ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pierces Springs is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Springs
  • Pleasant Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Red Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Red Springs is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Springs
  • Threadville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Threadville is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threadville

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

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

  • Butler, which is the Seat of Choctaw County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Water Valley to Butler, with an average speed<5> 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 126 miles [202.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 800 miles [1,287.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,696 miles [10,776.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,403 miles [11,914 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,280 miles [8,497.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Water Valley) 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 Water Valley, 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Water Valley 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Water Valley 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 Water Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.8940, Longitude: -88.3931       In this case, the coordinates for Water Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.512 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.032 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.249 degrees.