Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Atlas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Atlas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Atlas
- 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 Atlas:
- 39.513936, -90.969578
- 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 Atlas
- 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 Pike County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- Since Atlas is near Pike County and also Calhoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun 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 Atlas ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Atlas.
Within Illinois, the name Atlas is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Belmont County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Atlas [Belmont County].
- Portage 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 Ohio community of Atlas [Portage County].
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Atlas ...
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.
- Clarksville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clarksville is located in Pike County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <5>
- Independence
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Pike County
- Martinsburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
- Martinsburg is located in Pike County
- Pike
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Pleasant Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Pike County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 903 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant Hill <5>
- Reading
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Rockport
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
- Rockport is located in Pike County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockport <5>
- Stark
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Summer Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
- Summer Hill is located in Pike County
How Far From Atlas 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 Atlas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Atlas and extending to:
- Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Pike County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Atlas to Pittsfield, 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 72 miles [115.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 745 miles [1,199 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,421 miles [10,333.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,160 miles [11,522.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,043 miles [8,115.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Atlas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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 Atlas, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Atlas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Atlas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5139, Longitude: -90.9696 In this case, the coordinates for Atlas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Atlas 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'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 Atlas 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 316.616 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.50 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.812 degrees. |