Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wills and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wills
- 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 Wills:
- 34.342869, -85.905249
- 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 Wills
- 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Since Wills is near Cherokee County and also Etowah County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- eBird sighting report for Etowah 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 Wills ...
We found six communities that share the name Wills.
Within Alabama, the name Wills is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Johnson County
- This Wills is located in Johnson County and lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Wills that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Wills.
- Lawrence County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Wills [Lawrence County].
- West Virginia
- Kanawha County
- This Wills is located in Kanawha County and lies 375 miles [603.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Wills that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Wills.
- Mercer County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Wills [Mercer County].
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wills ...
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.
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Crossville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossville
- Crossville is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,847 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crossville <5>
- Geraldine
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geraldine
- Geraldine is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geraldine <5>
- Gilbert Crossroads
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilbert Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Crossroads
- Gilbert Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Guest
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
- Guest is located in DeKalb County
- Homer ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Lakeview
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Lydia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Peeks Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peeks Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeks Corner
- Peeks Corner is located in DeKalb County
- Portersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
- Portersville is located in DeKalb County
How Far From Wills 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 Wills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Wills once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Wills and extending to:
- Fort Payne, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wills to Fort Payne, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 583 miles [938.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,475 miles [10,420.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,184 miles [11,561.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,061 miles [8,144.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for DeKalb County: www.dekalbcountyal.us/
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 Wills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wills) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3429, Longitude: -85.9052 In this case, the coordinates for Wills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Wills 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Wills to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.182 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.831 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.752 degrees. |