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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Zulu, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zulu 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 Zulu:
    • 32.934846, -87.146107
    • 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 Zulu
  • 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 Bibb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb County
    • Since Zulu is near Perry County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Zulu

Communities Also Named Zulu ...

We found four communities that are also named Zulu.

Within Alabama, the name Zulu is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Warren 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 Zulu [Warren County].
    • Indiana
      • Allen County
      • This Zulu is located in Allen County and lies 572 miles [920.5 km]<2> to the north of the Zulu that is located in Bibb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allen County community of Zulu.
    • Kansas
      • Rice 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 Kansas community of Zulu [Rice County].
    • Texas
      • Hansford 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 Texas community of Zulu [Hansford County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Zulu ...

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.

  • Choctaw Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Choctaw Hills is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw Hills
  • Gary Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Gary Springs is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary Springs
  • Goodson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Goodson is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodson
  • Harrisburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Harrisburg is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Jamesville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamesville is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
  • Pleasant Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Pratt Ferry ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Pratt Ferry is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Ferry
  • Trio
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Trio is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trio
  • Youngbloods Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Youngbloods Ferry is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngbloods Ferry

How Far From Zulu to ...

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

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

  • Centreville, which is the Seat of Bibb County, lies just to the Northeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Zulu to Montgomery, with an average speed<3> 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 698 miles [1,123.3 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 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,301 miles [11,749.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,178 miles [8,333.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Zulu 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- Zulu) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Zulu 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 Zulu. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.9348, Longitude: -87.1461       In this case, the coordinates for Zulu have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.845 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.402 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.556 degrees.