RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Albany Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Albany Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Albany Park and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Albany Park:
    • 41.968262, -87.728032
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Albany Park
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Albany Park is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Albany Park

Curious and Interesting Names Near Albany Park ...

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.

  • Bricktown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bricktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
  • California Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • California Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Park
  • Cedar Lawn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Edgewater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Edgewater is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Grayland
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Grayland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
  • Lincoln Square ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Square
  • Lincolnwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Maplewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Maplewood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Martin Luther
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Martin Luther is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Luther
  • Portage Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Portage Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Park
  • Ravenswood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Ravenswood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
  • Ravenswood Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Ravenswood Gardens is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Gardens
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Ravenswood Place
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Ravenswood Place is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Place
    • Six Corners
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Six Corners is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
    • Summerdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Summerdale is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
    • Sunnyside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Sunnyside is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Swedentown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Swedentown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedentown
    • Whiskey Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point

How Far From Albany Park to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Albany Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Albany Park and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 181 miles [291.3 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Albany Park to Springfield, with an average speed<3>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 600 miles [965.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,181 miles [9,947.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,920 miles [11,136.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,804 miles [7,731.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Albany Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Albany Park to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Albany Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9683, Longitude: -87.7280    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.498 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.416 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.588 degrees.