Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Anchor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Anchor and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Anchor
- 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 Anchor:
- 40.568187, -88.537739
- 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 Anchor
- 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 McLean County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McLean County
- Since Anchor is near Ford County and also Livingston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ford County
- eBird sighting report for Livingston 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 Anchor ...
We found nine communities that share the name Anchor.
Within Illinois, the name Anchor is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Anchor ...
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.
- Arrowsmith
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrowsmith have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowsmith
- Arrowsmith is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrowsmith <5>
- Cereal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast) - Cooksville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Cooksville is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cooksville <5>
- Derby
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Harpster
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Melvin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
- Melvin is located in Ford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melvin <5>
- Pleasant Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- 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 McLean County
- Risk
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Timber Ridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
- Timber Ridge is located in McLean County
How Far From Anchor 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 village such as Anchor to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Anchor and extending to:
- Bloomington, which is the Seat of McLean County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Anchor to Bloomington, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the southwest (SW). 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 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 621 miles [999.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,279 miles [10,105.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,016 miles [11,291.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,898 miles [7,882.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Anchor. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McLean County: www.mclean.gov/
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 Anchor 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Anchor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Anchor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5682, Longitude: -88.5377 |
| <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 Anchor, 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 Anchor 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 315.03 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.826 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.375 degrees. |