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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alert
- 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:
- 36.230982, -78.222236
- 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
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Alert is near Warren County and also Vance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- eBird sighting report for Vance 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 Alert ...
We found eight communities that share the name Alert.
Within North Carolina, the name Alert is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, 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
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Nunavut
- This Alert lies 3,215 miles [5,174 km]<2> to the north of the Alert that is located in Franklin County.
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
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.
- Centerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Franklin County
- Estimated population in 2017: 102 people
- Gold Sand
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Hickory Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Rock
- Hickory Rock is located in Franklin County
- Inez
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Lake View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Lickskillet
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lickskillet have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Lickskillet is located in Warren County
- Rocky Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
- Rocky Ford is located in Franklin County
- Sukey Young Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sukey Young Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sukey Young Crossroads
- Sukey Young Crossroads is located in Franklin 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:
- Louisburg, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alert to Louisburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 38 miles [61.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 195 miles [313.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,062 miles [9,755.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,639 miles [7,465.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 Franklin County: www.co.franklin.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.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> | 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- 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: 36.2310, Longitude: -78.2222 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 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 Alert 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 308.702 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.961 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.161 degrees. |