Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Aiken, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aiken and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Aiken
- 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 Aiken:
- 42.352467, -90.415491
- 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 Aiken
- 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 Jo Daviess County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jo Daviess County
- Since Aiken is near Jackson County and also Dubuque County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Dubuque 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 Aiken ...
We found ten communities that share the name Aiken.
Within Illinois, the name Aiken is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Bell County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Bell County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Aiken.
- Floyd County
- This Aiken is located in Floyd County and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<2> to the southwest of the Aiken that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Aiken.
- Shelby County
- This Aiken is located in Shelby County and lies 767 miles [1,234.4 km] to the south southwest of the Aiken that is located in Jo Daviess County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Aiken.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Aiken ...
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.
- Council Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Council Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Hill
- Council Hill is located in Jo Daviess County
- Elizabeth
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
- Elizabeth is located in Jo Daviess County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 722 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabeth <5>
- Galena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
- Galena is located in Jo Daviess County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,151 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Galena <5>
- Galena Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galena Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena Junction
- Galena Junction is located in Jo Daviess County
- Gears Ferry
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gears Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gears Ferry
- Gears Ferry is located in Jo Daviess County
- King
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Pleasant Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Creek
- Pleasant Creek is located in Jackson County (IA)
- Portage
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Rice
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
How Far From Aiken 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 Aiken to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Aiken and extending to:
- Galena, which is the Seat of Jo Daviess County, lies just to the North.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 181 miles [291.3 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Aiken to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 739 miles [1,189.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,259 miles [10,072.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,004 miles [11,271.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,894 miles [7,876.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Aiken. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jo Daviess County: www.jodaviess.org/
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 Aiken 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Aiken) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Aiken. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3525, Longitude: -90.4155 |
| <3> | 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 Aiken, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Aiken 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 316.305 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.531 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.832 degrees. |