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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alvin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvin 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 Alvin:
    • 37.636765, -82.694879
    • 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 Alvin
  • 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 Floyd County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Floyd County
    • Since Alvin is near Pike County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pike County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Alvin

Communities Also Named Alvin ...

We found ten communities that are also named Alvin.

Within Kentucky, the name Alvin is unique.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Alvin lies 2,129 miles [3,426.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
    • Colorado
      • Yuma County
      • This Alvin is located in Yuma County and lies 1,054 miles [1,696.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of Alvin.
    • Georgia
      • Banks County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Banks County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Banks County community of Alvin.
      • Madison County
      • This Alvin is located in Madison County and lies 237 miles [381.4 km]<1> to the south of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Alvin.
    • Illinois
      • Vermilion County
      • This Alvin is located in Vermilion County and lies 321 miles [516.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vermilion County community of Alvin.
    • Kansas
      • Marion County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Marion County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Alvin.
    • Michigan
      • Alcona County
      • This Alvin is located in Alcona County and lies 477 miles [767.7 km]<1> to the north of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alcona County community of Alvin.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley County
      • This Alvin is located in Berkeley County and lies 337 miles [542.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkeley County community of Alvin.
    • Texas
      • Brazoria County
      • This Alvin is located in Brazoria County and lies 920 miles [1,480.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazoria County community of Alvin.
    • Wisconsin
      • Forest County
      • This Alvin is located in Forest County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Alvin that is located in Floyd County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Forest County community of Alvin.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvin ...

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.

  • Allen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Allen is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Allen has also been known as:
    • Beaver Creek Junction
    • Beaver Creek
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <3>
  • Betsy Layne
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bull Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bull Creek is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Creek
  • Cliff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cliff is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliff
  • Dana
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Dana is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
  • Emma
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Emma is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emma
  • Martin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Watergap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Watergap is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watergap
  • Wonder
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Wonder is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder

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

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

  • Prestonsburg, which is the Seat of Floyd County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Alvin to Frankfort, 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 318 miles [511.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,903 miles [11,109.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,778 miles [7,689.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 from Point A (ie- Alvin) 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 Alvin, 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 Alvin 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 Alvin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6368, Longitude: -82.6949       In this case, the coordinates for Alvin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.315 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.156 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.542 degrees.