RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Sumter County >> Whitsetts Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Whitsetts Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Whitsetts Ferry 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 Whitsetts Ferry:
    • 32.829297, -88.178915
    • 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 Whitsetts Ferry
  • 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 Sumter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter County
    • Since Whitsetts Ferry is near Greene County and also Kemper County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kemper 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 Whitsetts Ferry

Curious and Interesting Names Near Whitsetts Ferry ...

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.

  • Craigs Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Craigs Ferry is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs Ferry
  • Fair Oaks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Five Points
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Points is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Fowler
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fowler is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
  • Geiger
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Geiger is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 142 people
  • Lizzieville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lizzieville is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizzieville
  • Lukes Landing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lukes Landing is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lukes Landing
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Ridge
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Ridge is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge

How Far From Whitsetts Ferry to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Whitsetts Ferry to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Whitsetts Ferry and extending to:

  • Livingston, which is the Seat of Sumter County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Whitsetts Ferry to Livingston, with an average speed<2> 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 four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 750 miles [1,207 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,642 miles [10,689.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,352 miles [11,831.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,228 miles [8,413.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Whitsetts Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Whitsetts Ferry 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 Whitsetts Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8293, Longitude: -88.1789       In this case, the coordinates for Whitsetts Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.459 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.099 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.989 degrees.