Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alford
- 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 Alford:
- 30.694033, -85.392183
- 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 Alford
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Alford is near Washington County and also Bay County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Bay 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 Alford ...
We found eight communities that share the name Alford.
There is one other community in Florida which is also named Alford.
Beyond Florida, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Florida ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alford ...
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.
- Compass Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Compass Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compass Lake
- Compass Lake is located in Jackson County
- Cottondale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottondale
- Cottondale is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cottondale <4>
- Fountain
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain
- Fountain is located in Bay County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fountain <4>
- Gilberts Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilberts Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilberts Mill
- Gilberts Mill is located in Washington County
- Glass
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Jacob City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacob City
- Jacob City is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
- Jacobs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Kent Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Mallory Heights
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mallory Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory Heights
- Mallory Heights is located in Jackson County
- Rock Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in Jackson County
- Round Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Lake
- Round Lake is located in Jackson County
How Far From Alford 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 town such as Alford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alford and extending to:
- Marianna, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alford to Marianna, 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.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 68 miles [109.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 737 miles [1,186.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,317 miles [11,775.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,200 miles [8,368.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alford. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jackson County: www.jacksoncounty-fl.com/
The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.6940, Longitude: -85.3922 |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Alford 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> | 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> | 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 Alford 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 312.654 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.715 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.339 degrees. |