RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Sumter County >> Americus >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Americus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Americus and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Americus:
    • 32.071451, -84.224229
    • 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 Americus
  • 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 Sumter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter County
    • Since Americus is near Schley County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Americus

Communities Also Named Americus ...

We found five communities that are also named Americus.

Within Georgia, the name Americus is unique.

Beyond Georgia, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Chaffee County
      • This Americus is located in Chaffee County and lies 1,316 miles [2,117.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Americus that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chaffee County community of Americus.
    • Indiana
      • Tippecanoe County
      • This Americus is located in Tippecanoe County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Americus that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tippecanoe County community of Americus.
    • Kansas
      • Lyon County
      • This Americus is located in Lyon County and lies 809 miles [1,302 km]<1> to the northwest of the Americus that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyon County community of Americus.
    • Mississippi
      • Jackson County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi community of Americus [Jackson County].
    • Missouri
      • Montgomery County
      • This Americus is located in Montgomery County and lies 620 miles [997.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Americus that is located in Sumter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Americus.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Americus ...

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.

  • Archery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Archery is located in Webster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archery
  • Bumphead
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Bumphead is located in Schley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumphead
  • Danville ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Danville is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Estimated population in 2019: 212 people
  • De Soto
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Friendship
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Friendship is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • La Crosse
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Leslie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Magnolia Springs ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • New Era
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • New Era is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
  • Plains
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 116 miles [186.7 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Americus to Atlanta, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 620 miles [997.8 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 6,510 miles [10,476.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,204 miles [11,593.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,086 miles [8,185.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Americus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Americus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Americus 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 Americus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0715, Longitude: -84.2242    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.077 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.238 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.616 degrees.