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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wooddale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wooddale 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 Wooddale:
    • 33.337611, -86.804155
    • 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 Wooddale
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Wooddale is near Jefferson County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 Wooddale

Communities Also Named Wooddale ...

We found eight communities that are also named Wooddale.

There is one other community in Alabama that is also named Wooddale.

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

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Coffee County
      • This Wooddale is located in Coffee County and lies 150 miles [241.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Wooddale.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This Wooddale is located in New Castle County and lies 761 miles [1,224.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Wooddale.
    • Illinois
      • Peoria 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 Illinois community of Wooddale [Peoria County].
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Wooddale lies 1,931 miles [3,107.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Fayette 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 Pennsylvania community of Wooddale [Fayette County].
      • Monroe County
      • This Wooddale is located in Monroe County and lies 832 miles [1,339 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Wooddale.
    • Tennessee
      • Knox County
      • This Wooddale is located in Knox County and lies 253 miles [407.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Wooddale.
    • Wisconsin
      • Sawyer County
      • This Wooddale is located in Sawyer County and lies 887 miles [1,427.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Wooddale that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sawyer County community of Wooddale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wooddale ...

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.

  • Fungo Hollow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fungo Hollow is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fungo Hollow
  • Hunters Glen ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • Indian Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Indian Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs Ranch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Indian Springs Ranch is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Ranch
  • Indian Springs Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
  • Ivy Chase
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ivy Chase is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Chase
  • Mallard Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Mallard Point is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Point
  • Mars Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mars Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
  • Paramount
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Paramount is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
  • Polo Trace
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
  • Quail Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Quail Run is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
  • Rolling Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Rolling Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Ridge
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Roy Ford
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Roy Ford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Ford
    • Royal Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
    • Sky Ranch
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Sky Ranch is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Ranch
    • Valley Station
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Valley Station is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Station

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

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

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wooddale to Columbiana, with an average speed<3> 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 72 miles [115.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 665 miles [1,070.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,560 miles [10,557.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,268 miles [11,696.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,145 miles [8,280.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Wooddale) 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 Wooddale 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 Wooddale 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 Wooddale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3376, Longitude: -86.8042       In this case, the coordinates for Wooddale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.666 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.251 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.336 degrees.