Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Woodruff, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Woodruff and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Woodruff
- 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 Woodruff:
- 33.813989, -85.892190
- 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 Woodruff
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Woodruff is near Etowah County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Woodruff ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Woodruff.
Within Alabama, the name Woodruff is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Apache County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arizona community of Woodruff [Apache County].
- Navajo County
- This Woodruff is located in Navajo County and lies 1,375 miles [2,212.8 km]<2> to the west of the Woodruff that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Navajo County community of Woodruff.
- Colorado
- Florida
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Cook County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Woodruff [Cook County].
- McLean County
- This Woodruff is located in McLean County and lies 499 miles [803.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Woodruff that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLean County community of Woodruff.
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- Cumberland County
- This Woodruff is located in Cumberland County and lies 709 miles [1,141 km]<2> to the northeast of the Woodruff that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Woodruff.
- Ocean County
- This Woodruff is located in Ocean County and lies 763 miles [1,227.9 km] to the northeast of the Woodruff that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ocean County community of Woodruff.
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near Woodruff ...
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.
- Angel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Cedar Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Cedar Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chigger Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Clark ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Crystal Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
- Crystal Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Duke
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Hebron ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Hill Top ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Peek's Hill ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peek's Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peek's Hill
- Peek's Hill is located in Calhoun County
- Post Oak
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Reads Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reads Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reads Mill
- Reads Mill is located in Calhoun County
- Sulphur Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Union
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
How Far From Woodruff 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 Woodruff 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<4> community of Woodruff once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Woodruff and extending to:
- Anniston, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Woodruff to Anniston, with an average speed<5> 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 101 miles [162.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 604 miles [972 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,499 miles [10,459.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,207 miles [11,598.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,083 miles [8,180.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhouncounty.org/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Woodruff 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. |
| <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- Woodruff) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Woodruff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8140, Longitude: -85.8922 In this case, the coordinates for Woodruff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Woodruff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Woodruff to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.148 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.718 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.867 degrees. |