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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zana 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 Zana:
    • 33.028177, -85.721069
    • 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 Zana
  • 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 Tallapoosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa County
    • Since Zana is near Clay County and also Chambers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers 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 Zana

Communities Also Named Zana ...

We found three communities that are also named Zana.

Within Alabama, the name Zana is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Martin County
      • This Zana is located in Martin County and lies 509 miles [819.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Zana that is located in Tallapoosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Martin County community of Zana.
    • Georgia
      • Ben Hill 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 Georgia community of Zana [Ben Hill County].
    • Texas
      • San Augustine 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 Texas community of Zana [San Augustine County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zana ...

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.

  • Cowpens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cowpens is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpens
  • Eagle Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Eagle Creek is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Creek
  • Emuckfaw
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Emuckfaw is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emuckfaw
  • Everglade
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Everglade is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everglade
  • Fredrick Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fredrick Ferry is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredrick Ferry
  • Germany Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Germany Ferry is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germany Ferry
  • Goldville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Goldville is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
  • Griffin Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Griffin Ferry is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Ferry
  • Hamlet
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hamlet is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
  • Harmony
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Harmony is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Matilda
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Matilda is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
  • Matilda Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Matilda Ferry is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda Ferry
  • New Site
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • New Site is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 755 people
  • Sessions
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sessions is located in Tallapoosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sessions

How Far From Zana 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 Zana 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<3> community of Zana once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Zana and extending to:

  • Dadeville, which is the Seat of Tallapoosa County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Zana to Dadeville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 56 miles [90.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 631 miles [1,015.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,529 miles [10,507.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,233 miles [11,640.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,111 miles [8,225.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zana) 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 Zana 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>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 Zana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Zana 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 Zana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0282, Longitude: -85.7211       In this case, the coordinates for Zana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.002 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.441 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.974 degrees.