Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Hill
- 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 West Hill:
- 30.690190, -88.180836
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on West Hill
- 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 Mobile County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mobile County
- Since West Hill is near Baldwin County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Baldwin County
- eBird sighting report for Jackson 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named West Hill ...
We found ten communities that share the name West Hill.
Within Alabama, the name West Hill is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New York
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Vermont
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Hill ...
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.
- Cottage Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottage Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hill
- Cottage Hill is located in Mobile County
- Deerwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Edgefield
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Orchard
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Park Forest
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest
- Park Forest is located in Mobile County
- Pine Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Regency
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Spring Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Spring Valley is located in Mobile County
- Sugar Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Mobile County
- Sunset Ranch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Ranch
- Sunset Ranch is located in Mobile County
- Timbers
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
How Far From West Hill 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 West Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Hill and extending to:
- Mobile, which is the Seat of Mobile County, lies just to the East.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from West Hill to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 847 miles [1,363.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,745 miles [10,855 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,446 miles [11,983.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,325 miles [8,569.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mobile County: www.mobilecounty.org/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.6902, Longitude: -88.1808 In this case, the coordinates for West Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 West Hill 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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <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 West Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.274 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.593 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.379 degrees. |