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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wenonah, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wenonah 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 Wenonah:
    • 33.439553, -86.896103
    • 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 Wenonah
  • 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 Wenonah is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa 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 Wenonah

Communities Also Named Wenonah ...

We found four communities that are also named Wenonah.

Within Alabama, the name Wenonah is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Montgomery County
      • This Wenonah is located in Montgomery County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Wenonah that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Wenonah.
    • New Jersey
      • Gloucester 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 New Jersey community of Wenonah [Gloucester County].
    • Virginia
      • Giles 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 Virginia community of Wenonah [Giles County].
    • West Virginia
      • Mercer County
      • This Wenonah is located in Mercer County and lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wenonah that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Wenonah.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wenonah ...

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.

  • Crescent Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Crest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crest
  • Glenview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Glenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Gordon Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Gordon Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Green Acres is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Hillman
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hillman is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
  • Hillman Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hillman Gardens is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Gardens
  • Hillman Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hillman Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman Park
  • Ivanhoe
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Jones Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones Valley is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Valley
  • Martins
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Martins is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins
  • Mason City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mason City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Mill Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Mill Run is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Run
    • Park Courts
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Park Courts is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Courts
    • Pauls Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pauls Hill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Hill
    • Walnut Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Wenonah 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 665 miles [1,070.2 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 6,559 miles [10,555.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,268 miles [11,696.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,144 miles [8,278.5 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wenonah) 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 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 Wenonah 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 Wenonah, 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 Wenonah 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 Wenonah. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4396, Longitude: -86.8961       In this case, the coordinates for Wenonah have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.728 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.336 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.351 degrees.