RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alert, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alert 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 Alert:
    • 39.160265, -85.678362
    • 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 Alert
  • 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 Alert ...

We found eight communities that share the name Alert.

Within Indiana, the name Alert is unique.

Beyond Indiana, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, six are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Polk County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Polk County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Alert.
    • Kansas
      • Riley County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alert [Riley County].
    • Michigan
      • Oakland County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Alert [Oakland County].
    • North Carolina
      • Franklin County
      • This Alert is located in Franklin County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Alert that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Alert.
    • Nunavut
      • This Alert lies 3,039 miles [4,890.8 km]<3> to the north of the Alert that is located in Decatur County.
    • Ohio
      • Butler County
      • This Alert is located in Butler County and lies 49 miles [78.9 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Alert that is located in Decatur County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Alert.
    • Oklahoma
      • Kay County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Alert [Kay County].
    • Ontario
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Alert.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alert ...

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.

  • Brewersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brewersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewersville
    • Brewersville is located in Jennings County
  • Elizabethtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
    • Elizabethtown is located in Bartholomew County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 540 people
  • Harper
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harper have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
    • Harper is located in Decatur County
  • Hartsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsville
    • Hartsville is located in Bartholomew County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
  • Hope
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
    • Hope is located in Bartholomew County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,248 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hope <5>
  • Jewell Village
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jewell Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell Village
    • Jewell Village is located in Bartholomew County
  • Petersville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
    • Petersville is located in Bartholomew County
  • Pinhook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinhook have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinhook
    • Pinhook is located in Decatur County
  • Queensville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queensville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queensville
    • Queensville is located in Jennings County
  • Rugby
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rugby have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
    • Rugby is located in Bartholomew County
  • Tannersville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tannersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannersville
    • Tannersville is located in Jennings County

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

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

  • Greensburg, which is the Seat of Decatur County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Alert to Greensburg, 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.
  • Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 49 miles [78.9 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 most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 463 miles [745.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,238 miles [10,039.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,964 miles [11,207.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,841 miles [7,790.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

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

The official website for Decatur County: www.decaturcounty.in.gov/

The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Alert, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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 Alert 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alert) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alert. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1603, Longitude: -85.6784    
<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 Alert 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 313.168 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.496 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.417 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024