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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bellwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bellwood 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 Bellwood:
    • 41.882828, -87.875922
    • 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 Bellwood
  • 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 Bellwood is near DuPage County and also Will 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 Will 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 Bellwood

Communities Also Named Bellwood ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Bellwood.

Within Illinois, the name Bellwood is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of nineteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nineteen communities, eighteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Geneva County
      • This Bellwood is located in Geneva County and lies 748 miles [1,203.8 km]<1> to the south of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Geneva County community of Bellwood.
      • Jefferson 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 Alabama community of Bellwood [Jefferson County].
      • Mobile County
      • This Bellwood is located in Mobile County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km] to the south of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mobile County community of Bellwood.
      • Tuscaloosa County
      • This Bellwood is located in Tuscaloosa County and lies 597 miles [960.8 km] to the south of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscaloosa County community of Bellwood.
    • Florida
      • Brevard County
      • This Bellwood is located in Brevard County and lies 1,005 miles [1,617.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brevard County community of Bellwood.
    • Georgia
      • Fulton County
      • This Bellwood is located in Fulton County and lies 590 miles [949.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Bellwood.
    • Kentucky
      • Nelson County
      • This Bellwood is located in Nelson County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nelson County community of Bellwood.
    • Louisiana
      • Natchitoches Parish
      • This Bellwood is located in Natchitoches Parish and lies 773 miles [1,244 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Natchitoches Parish community of Bellwood.
    • Nebraska
      • Butler County
      • This Bellwood is located in Butler County and lies 484 miles [778.9 km]<1> to the west of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Bellwood.
    • New York
      • Lewis County
      • This Bellwood is located in Lewis County and lies 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Bellwood.
    • North Carolina
      • Iredell County
      • This Bellwood is located in Iredell County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iredell County community of Bellwood.
    • Ontario
      • This Bellwood lies 541 miles [870.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
    • Oregon
      • Tillamook County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oregon community of Bellwood [Tillamook County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Blair County
      • This Bellwood is located in Blair County and lies 503 miles [809.5 km]<1> to the east of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blair County community of Bellwood.
    • South Carolina
      • Orangeburg 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 South Carolina community of Bellwood [Orangeburg County].
    • Tennessee
      • Wilson County
      • This Bellwood is located in Wilson County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Bellwood.
    • Virginia
      • Chesterfield County
      • This Bellwood is located in Chesterfield County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chesterfield County community of Bellwood.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Bellwood is located in Fayette County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Bellwood.
    • Wisconsin
      • Douglas County
      • This Bellwood is located in Douglas County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Bellwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Bellwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bellwood ...

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.

  • Churchville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Churchville is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchville
  • Clyde
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clyde is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
  • Forest Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Fullersburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fullersburg is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullersburg
  • Galewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Galewood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
  • Hillside
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lyons
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mammoth Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mammoth Springs is located in DuPage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth Springs
  • Maywood
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • McCook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Riverview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Riverview is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Stone Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Whiskey Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point

How Far From Bellwood 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 village such as Bellwood to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bellwood and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Bellwood to Chicago, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 172 miles [276.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 605 miles [973.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,191 miles [9,963.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,930 miles [11,152.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,814 miles [7,747.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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- Bellwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bellwood 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>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 Bellwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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 Bellwood 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 Bellwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8828, Longitude: -87.8759       In this case, the coordinates for Bellwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.597 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.516 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.686 degrees.