Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ensley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ensley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ensley
- 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 Ensley:
- 33.509551, -86.886103
- 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 Ensley
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Ensley is near Shelby County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- eBird sighting report for Blount 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 Ensley ...
We found four communities that share the name Ensley.
Within Alabama, the name Ensley is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Michigan
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ensley ...
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.
- Falls Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falls Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Junction
- Falls Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Frenchtown
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Frenchtown is located in Jefferson County
- Glenview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Green Acres
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in Jefferson County
- Ivanhoe
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Jones Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Valley
- Jones Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Little Italy
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Italy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
- Little Italy is located in Jefferson County
- Martins
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Mason City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
- Mason City is located in Jefferson County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Minor
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Park Courts
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Courts have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Courts
- Park Courts is located in Jefferson County
- Shadyside
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Sunset Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Mountain
- Sunset Mountain is located in Jefferson County
- Tuxedo Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuxedo Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuxedo Heights
- Tuxedo Heights is located in Jefferson County
- Village Creek Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village Creek Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek Junction
- Village Creek Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Minor
How Far From Ensley 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 Ensley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ensley and extending to:
- Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Ensley to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 662 miles [1,065.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,555 miles [10,549.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,264 miles [11,690.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,141 miles [8,273.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ensley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffcointouch.com/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ensley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ensley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5096, Longitude: -86.8861 In this case, the coordinates for Ensley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Ensley 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> | 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. |
| <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 Ensley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.726 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.344 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.332 degrees. |