Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in America, we use the following websites to find information relevant to America and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for America
- 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 America:
- 37.138385, -89.123684
- 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 America
- 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 Pulaski County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
- Since America is near Ballard County and also Alexander County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ballard County
- eBird sighting report for Alexander 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 America ...
We found seven communities that share the name America.
Within Illinois, the name America is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Nemaha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of America [Nemaha County].
- Osage 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 Kansas community of America [Osage County].
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma
Curious and Interesting Names Near America ...
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.
- Cache
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cache have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cache
- Cache is located in Alexander County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cache <4>
- Cairo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Cairo is located in Alexander County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,989 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cairo <4>
- Frog City ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Future City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Future City
- Future City is located in Alexander County
- Golden Lily
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden Lily have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Lily
- Golden Lily is located in Alexander County
- Grand Chain
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Chain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Chain
- Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Chain <4>
- Monkeys Eyebrow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monkeys Eyebrow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkeys Eyebrow
- Monkeys Eyebrow is located in Ballard County (KY)
- Mound City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
- Mound City is located in Pulaski County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mound City <4>
- Mounds
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - New Grand Chain
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Grand Chain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Oscar
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Pryortown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Unity
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Unity is located in Alexander County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Unity <4>
How Far From America 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 America to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in America and extending to:
- Mound City, which is the Seat of Pulaski County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 184 miles [296.1 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from America 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 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 668 miles [1,075 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,469 miles [10,410.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,197 miles [11,582.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,074 miles [8,165.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for America. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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- America) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in America. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1384, Longitude: -89.1237 In this case, the coordinates for America 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 America 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 America 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 315.313 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.676 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.493 degrees. |