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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Balcom, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Balcom and the surrounding area.
- 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 Balcom:
- 37.413106, -89.206192
- 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 Balcom
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Balcom is near Pulaski County and also Alexander County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
- Open the 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Balcom
Communities Also Named Balcom ...
We found two communities that are also named Balcom.
Within Illinois, the name Balcom is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Jones County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Balcom [Jones County].
- New York
- Chautauqua County
- This Balcom is located in Chautauqua County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<2> to the northeast of the Balcom that is located in Union County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chautauqua County community of Balcom.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Balcom ...
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.
- Anna
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cypress
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dutch Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Lick Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lick Creek is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Mason
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Mason is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Moscow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Moscow is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Mount Pleasant
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mountain Glen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Glen is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Glen
- Perks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pottsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Pottsville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
- Valley Mission
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Valley Mission is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mission
- Water Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Water Valley is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Valley
How Far From Balcom 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 Balcom to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Balcom and extending to:
- Jonesboro, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 165 miles [265.5 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Balcom to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,459 miles [10,394.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,188 miles [11,568 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,065 miles [8,151.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 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 Balcom 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Balcom) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Balcom 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 Balcom. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4131, Longitude: -89.2062 In this case, the coordinates for Balcom have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.378 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.788 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.468 degrees. |
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