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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wilmer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wilmer and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Wilmer:
    • 30.823243, -88.361400
    • 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 Wilmer
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mobile County
    • Since Wilmer is near George County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for George County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Wilmer

Communities Also Named Wilmer ...

We found nine communities that are also named Wilmer.

Within Alabama, the name Wilmer is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Wilmer lies 1,965 miles [3,162.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
    • Louisiana
      • Tangipahoa Parish
      • This Wilmer is located in Tangipahoa Parish and lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<1> to the west of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tangipahoa Parish community of Wilmer.
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This Wilmer is located in Erie County and lies 795 miles [1,279.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Wilmer.
    • Ontario
      • This Wilmer lies 1,139 miles [1,833 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Chester County
      • This Wilmer is located in Chester County and lies 963 miles [1,549.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of Wilmer.
      • Elk County
      • This Wilmer is located in Elk County and lies 915 miles [1,472.5 km] to the north northeast of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elk County community of Wilmer.
    • Texas
      • Dallas County
      • This Wilmer is located in Dallas County and lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Wilmer that is located in Mobile County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Wilmer.
    • Virginia
      • Campbell 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 Virginia community of Wilmer [Campbell County].
      • Pittsylvania 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 Virginia community of Wilmer [Pittsylvania County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wilmer ...

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.

  • Dean Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dean Landing is located in George County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean Landing
  • Donovan ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Donovan is located in George County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donovan
  • Georgetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Georgetown is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Indian Hills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Indian Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Indian Springs is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Oak Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Oak Grove is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Ponderosa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ponderosa is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa
  • Scenic Hills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Scenic Hills is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Hills
  • Shipman
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Shipman is located in George County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
  • Tanner Williams
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Tanner Williams is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Williams
  • Tanners Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Tanners Ferry is located in Jackson County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanners Ferry
  • Waters Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Waters Landing is located in George County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Landing

How Far From Wilmer to ...

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

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

  • Mobile, which is the Seat of Mobile County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wilmer to Mobile, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 161 miles [259.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 848 miles [1,364.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,746 miles [10,856.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,449 miles [11,988 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,327 miles [8,573 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Wilmer) 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 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 Wilmer 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 Wilmer 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 Wilmer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8232, Longitude: -88.3614       In this case, the coordinates for Wilmer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.394 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.75 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.425 degrees.