Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alexander, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alexander and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alexander
- 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 Alexander:
- 39.725203, -90.038651
- 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 Alexander
- 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- Since Alexander is near Sangamon County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Alexander ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Alexander.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Alexander.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 27 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 27 communities, 26 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Alberta
- This Alexander lies 1,477 miles [2,377 km]<3> to the northwest of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- Arkansas
- Greene 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 Arkansas community of Alexander [Greene County].
- Saline County
- This Alexander is located in Saline County and lies 375 miles [603.5 km]<3> to the south southwest of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saline County community of Alexander.
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Burke County
- This Alexander is located in Burke County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<3> to the southeast of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Burke County community of Alexander.
- Paulding 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 Alexander [Paulding County].
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Douglas 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 Kansas community of Alexander [Douglas County].
- Rush County
- This Alexander is located in Rush County and lies 516 miles [830.4 km]<3> to the west of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rush County community of Alexander.
- Kentucky
- Allen 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 Kentucky community of Alexander [Allen County].
- Fulton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Alexander [Fulton County].
- Maine
- Manitoba
- This Alexander lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- Michigan
- Chippewa 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 Michigan community of Alexander [Chippewa County].
- Crawford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Alexander [Crawford County].
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Athens County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Athens County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Alexander.
- Cuyahoga County
- This Alexander is located in Cuyahoga County and lies 456 miles [733.9 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Alexander that is located in Morgan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cuyahoga County community of Alexander.
- South Carolina
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alexander ...
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.
- Arnold
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Berlin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Franklin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <5>
- Island Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Grove
- Island Grove is located in Sangamon County
- Jordanville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordanville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordanville
- Jordanville is located in Morgan County
- Maxwell ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Orleans
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Portuguese Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portuguese Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portuguese Hill
- Portuguese Hill is located in Morgan County
- Savage ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Yeomans
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
How Far From Alexander 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 Alexander to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Alexander and extending to:
- Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Alexander to Jacksonville, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 20 miles [32.2 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 696 miles [1,120.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,376 miles [10,261.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,114 miles [11,448.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,996 miles [8,040.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alexander. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Alexander 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> | 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 Alexander, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Alexander) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alexander. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7252, Longitude: -90.0387 |
| <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 Alexander 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 316.005 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.826 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.314 degrees. |