RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Clay County >> Alger >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alger, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alger 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 Alger:
    • 37.313145, -83.731585
    • 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 Alger
  • 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Since Alger is near Jackson County and also Owsley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Owsley 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 Alger

Communities Also Named Alger ...

We found seven communities that are also named Alger.

Within Kentucky, the name Alger is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Mitchell 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 Georgia community of Alger [Mitchell County].
    • Iowa
      • Linn 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 Iowa community of Alger [Linn County].
    • Michigan
      • Arenac County
      • This Alger is located in Arenac County and lies 470 miles [756.4 km]<2> to the north of the Alger that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arenac County community of Alger.
    • Minnesota
      • Lake County
      • This Alger is located in Lake County and lies 790 miles [1,271.4 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Alger that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Alger.
    • Montana
      • Fergus 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 Montana community of Alger [Fergus County].
    • Ohio
      • Hardin County
      • This Alger is located in Hardin County and lies 234 miles [376.6 km]<2> to the north of the Alger that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Alger.
    • Washington
      • Skagit County
      • This Alger is located in Skagit County and lies 2,074 miles [3,337.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Alger that is located in Clay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Skagit County community of Alger.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alger ...

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.

  • Bishop Bend
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bishop Bend is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Bend
  • Blake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Blake is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
  • Burning Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Burning Springs is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Springs
  • Chestnutburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnutburg is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnutburg
  • Elias
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Elias is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elias
  • Fall Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fall Rock is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Rock
  • Island City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Island City is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island City
  • Major
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Major is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Major
  • Mistletoe
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Mistletoe is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistletoe
  • Ricetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ricetown is located in Owsley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricetown
  • Shepherdtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Shepherdtown is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherdtown
  • Sourwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Sourwood is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sourwood
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sturgeon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Sturgeon is located in Owsley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
    • Union
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Vine
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Vine is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine
    • Wild Cat
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wild Cat is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Cat

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

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

  • Manchester, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Alger to Manchester, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 379 miles [609.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,962 miles [11,204.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,837 miles [7,784.4 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 Alger 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 '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- Alger) 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 Alger 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 Alger. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3131, Longitude: -83.7316       In this case, the coordinates for Alger have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.946 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.831 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.08 degrees.