RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Joaquin County >> Alba >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
California


The Commemorative Quarter for California







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alba, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alba 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 Alba:
    • 37.798602, -121.038340
    • 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 Alba
  • 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 Alba ...

We found nine communities that share the name Alba.

Within California, the name Alba is unique.

Beyond California, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Antrim County
      • This Alba is located in Antrim County and lies 1,915 miles [3,081.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alba that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Antrim County community of Alba.
    • Missouri
      • Jasper County
      • This Alba is located in Jasper County and lies 1,453 miles [2,338.4 km]<1> to the east of the Alba that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jasper County community of Alba.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Alba lies 3,063 miles [4,929.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alba that is located in San Joaquin County.
    • Ohio
      • Hancock County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Hancock County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Alba.
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Alba.
    • Oregon
      • Umatilla County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oregon community of Alba [Umatilla County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bradford County
      • This Alba is located in Bradford County and lies 2,335 miles [3,757.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Alba that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bradford County community of Alba.
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Alba [Greenville County].
    • Texas
      • Wood County
      • This Alba is located in Wood County and lies 1,467 miles [2,360.9 km]<1> to the east of the Alba that is located in San Joaquin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Alba.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alba ...

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.

  • Aurora
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Aurora is located in Stanislaus County
  • Claus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claus have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claus
    • Claus is located in Stanislaus County
  • Collegeville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collegeville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collegeville
    • Collegeville is located in San Joaquin County
  • Five Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
    • Five Corners is located in San Joaquin County
  • Manteca
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteca
    • Manteca is located in San Joaquin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 84,445 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manteca <5>
  • Riverbank
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Summer Home
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summer Home have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Home
    • Summer Home is located in San Joaquin County
  • Valley Home
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Home have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Home
    • Valley Home is located in Stanislaus County
  • Van Allen
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Van Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Allen
    • Van Allen is located in San Joaquin County

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

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

  • Stockton, which is the Seat of San Joaquin County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alba to Stockton, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 59 miles [95 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,360 miles [3,798.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 134 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,387 miles [11,888.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,155 miles [13,124.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,196 miles [9,971.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alba. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for San Joaquin County: www.sjgov.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alba) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alba. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7986, Longitude: -121.0383    
<2>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 Alba, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Alba 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.
<4>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.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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.
<7>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 Alba to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.044 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.76 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.319 degrees.









 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024