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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zoar, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zoar 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 Zoar:
    • 31.531744, -86.106712
    • 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 Zoar
  • 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 Coffee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Coffee County
    • Since Zoar is near Crenshaw County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Crenshaw County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pike 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 Zoar

Communities Also Named Zoar ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Zoar.

Within Alabama, the name Zoar is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • Fairfield 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 Connecticut community of Zoar [Fairfield County].
    • Delaware
      • Sussex County
      • This Zoar is located in Sussex County and lies 782 miles [1,258.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Zoar.
    • Georgia
      • Bulloch 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 Georgia community of Zoar [Bulloch County].
    • Indiana
      • Dubois County
      • This Zoar is located in Dubois County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<2> to the north of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dubois County community of Zoar.
    • Louisiana
      • Jackson Parish
      • This Zoar is located in Jackson Parish and lies 370 miles [595.5 km]<2> to the west of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson Parish community of Zoar.
    • Massachusetts
      • Franklin County
      • This Zoar is located in Franklin County and lies 1,054 miles [1,696.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Zoar.
    • New Mexico
      • Roosevelt County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Roosevelt County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roosevelt County community of Zoar.
    • New York
      • Erie County
      • This Zoar is located in Erie County and lies 853 miles [1,372.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Zoar.
      • Jefferson County
      • This Zoar is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,015 miles [1,633.5 km] to the north northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Zoar.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • This Zoar lies 2,074 miles [3,337.8 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
    • North Carolina
      • Union 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 North Carolina community of Zoar [Union County].
    • Ohio
      • Tuscarawas County
      • This Zoar is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 679 miles [1,092.7 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Zoar.
      • Warren County
      • This Zoar is located in Warren County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km] to the north of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Zoar.
    • Virginia
      • Chesterfield County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Zoar [Chesterfield County].
    • Wisconsin
      • Menominee County
      • This Zoar is located in Menominee County and lies 943 miles [1,517.6 km]<2> to the north of the Zoar that is located in Coffee County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menominee County community of Zoar.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zoar ...

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.

  • Bullock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Edwardsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Edwardsville is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
  • Elba
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Harpers Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Harpers Ferry is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Ferry
  • Jack
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lee
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lee is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Peacock ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Peacock is located in Crenshaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
  • Pine Level
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Saddle Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Saddle Hill is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Hill
  • Shady Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Shady Grove is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Weed Crossroad
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Weed Crossroad is located in Crenshaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weed Crossroad

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

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

  • Elba, which is the Seat of Coffee County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 59 miles [95 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Zoar to Montgomery, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 720 miles [1,158.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,616 miles [10,647.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,315 miles [11,772.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,195 miles [8,360.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Zoar 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zoar) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Zoar, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Zoar 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 Zoar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5317, Longitude: -86.1067    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.129 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.381 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.437 degrees.