Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West
- 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:
- 33.258067, -85.418280
- 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
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since West is near Heard County and also Chambers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Heard County
- eBird sighting report for Chambers 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 ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name West.
Within Alabama, the name West is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Holmes County
- This West is located in Holmes County and lies 251 miles [403.9 km]<3> to the west of the West that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holmes County community of West.
- Lauderdale 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 Mississippi community of West [Lauderdale County].
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Davidson County
- This West is located in Davidson County and lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<3> to the north northwest of the West that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davidson County community of West.
- Gibson County
- This West is located in Gibson County and lies 260 miles [418.4 km] to the northwest of the West that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gibson County community of West.
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near West ...
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.
- Big Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
- Big Springs is located in Randolph County
- Cornhouse
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Friendship
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Randolph County
- High Shoals
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Shoals have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
- High Shoals is located in Randolph County
- Liberty Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Liberty Grove is located in Randolph County
- Mount Pleasant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Randolph County
- Napoleon
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Peace
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Rocky Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Branch
- Rocky Branch is located in Randolph County
How Far From West 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 to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West and extending to:
- Wedowee, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 79 miles [127.1 km]<3> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from West to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>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 608 miles [978.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,506 miles [10,470.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,209 miles [11,601.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,087 miles [8,186.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2581, Longitude: -85.4183 In this case, the coordinates for West have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 West to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.837 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.281 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.805 degrees. |