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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Westside, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westside 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 Westside:
    • 32.645134, -85.402725
    • 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 Westside
  • 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
    • Since Westside is near Chambers County and also Macon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macon 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 Westside

Communities Also Named Westside ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Westside.

Within Alabama, the name Westside is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Westside lies 2,106 miles [3,389.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
    • California
      • Fresno County
      • This Westside is located in Fresno County and lies 1,982 miles [3,189.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fresno County community of Westside.
      • San Bernardino 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 California community of Westside [San Bernardino County].
      • Stanislaus County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Westside [Stanislaus County].
    • Florida
      • Volusia 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 Florida community of Westside [Volusia County].
    • Georgia
      • Catoosa County
      • This Westside is located in Catoosa County and lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<1> to the north of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Catoosa County community of Westside.
      • Hall County
      • This Westside is located in Hall County and lies 144 miles [231.7 km] to the northeast of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of Westside.
    • Indiana
      • Dearborn County
      • This Westside is located in Dearborn County and lies 444 miles [714.5 km]<1> to the north of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dearborn County community of Westside.
    • Iowa
      • Crawford County
      • This Westside is located in Crawford County and lies 838 miles [1,348.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Westside.
    • Louisiana
      • Rapides Parish
      • 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 Louisiana community of Westside [Rapides Parish].
    • Mississippi
      • Claiborne County
      • This Westside is located in Claiborne County and lies 338 miles [544 km]<1> to the west of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Claiborne County community of Westside.
    • North Carolina
      • Rowan 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 North Carolina community of Westside [Rowan County].
    • Tennessee
      • Giles County
      • This Westside is located in Giles County and lies 203 miles [326.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Westside that is located in Lee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Giles County community of Westside.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westside ...

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.

  • Cedar Brook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Brook is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Brook
  • Crooked Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Crooked Creek is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Creek
  • Edgewood Forest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgewood Forest is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood Forest
  • Five Points
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Five Points is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Glen Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Haven is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
  • Granite Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Granite Hills is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Hills
  • Hallway
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hallway is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallway
  • India Lakes
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • India Lakes is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India Lakes
  • Indian Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Indian Hills is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Pickwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Pickwood is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwood
  • Rocky Brook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Rocky Brook is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Brook
  • Village Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Village Hills is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Hills

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

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

  • Opelika, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Westside to Montgomery, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 636 miles [1,023.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,534 miles [10,515.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,235 miles [11,643.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,113 miles [8,228.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Westside) 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 Westside 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>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.
<4>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 Westside 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 Westside. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.6451, Longitude: -85.4027       In this case, the coordinates for Westside have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.793 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.145 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.935 degrees.