|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bement, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bement 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 Bement:
- 39.922909, -88.571954
- 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 Bement
- 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 Piatt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Piatt County
- Since Bement is near Champaign County and also Moultrie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Moultrie 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 Bement
Communities Also Named Bement ...
We found two communities that are also named Bement.
Within Illinois, the name Bement is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Clay 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 Missouri community of Bement [Clay County].
- Ohio
- Cuyahoga County
- This Bement is located in Cuyahoga County and lies 361 miles [581 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bement that is located in Piatt County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cuyahoga County community of Bement.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bement ...
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.
- Arthur
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bourbon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bourbon is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourbon
- Burrowsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Burrowsville is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrowsville
- Centerville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Centerville is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Chicken Bristle
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Chicken Bristle is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicken Bristle
- Combs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Combs is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combs
- Ficklin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ficklin is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ficklin
- Jimtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Jimtown is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
- Lake City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lake City is located in Moultrie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Lodge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Lodge is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodge
- Mackville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mackville is located in Piatt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackville
How Far From Bement 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 Bement to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bement and extending to:
- Monticello, which is the Seat of Piatt County, lies just to the North.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Bement to Springfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 619 miles [996.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,312 miles [10,158.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,047 miles [11,341 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,928 miles [7,930.8 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 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 Bement 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- Bement) 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 Bement 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 Bement. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9229, Longitude: -88.5720 In this case, the coordinates for Bement have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.043 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.751 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.562 degrees. |
|
|