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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 Beecher City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beecher City 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 Beecher City:
- 39.18718, -88.78698
- 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 Beecher City
- 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 Effingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Effingham County
- Since Beecher City is near Fayette County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Beecher City
Curious and Interesting Names Near Beecher City ...
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.
- Funkhouser
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Greenland ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Greenland is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
- Holland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Holland is located in Effingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
- Holliday
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Magnolia Corner is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Corner
- Moccasin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mode
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Post Oak
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Post Oak is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak
How Far From Beecher City 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 village such as Beecher City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Beecher City and extending to:
- Effingham, which is the Seat of Effingham County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Beecher City to Effingham, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 61 miles [98.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 630 miles [1,013.9 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,356 miles [10,229 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,090 miles [11,410.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,969 miles [7,996.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beecher City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Beecher City 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 Beecher City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1872, Longitude: -88.7870 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.168 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.791 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.851 degrees. |
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