Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bender, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bender and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bender
- 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 Bender:
- 37.378941, -88.892009
- 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 Bender
- 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- Since Bender is near Massac County and also Pulaski County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Massac County
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski 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 Bender ...
We found eight communities that share the name Bender.
Within Illinois, the name Bender is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, six are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Manitoba
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- Saskatchewan
- This Bender lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Bender that is located in Johnson County.
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bender ...
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.
- Big Bay
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Roads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
- Cross Roads is located in Johnson County
- Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Crossroads is located in Johnson County
- Cypress
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress
- Cypress is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 236 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cypress <5>
- Flatwoods
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Joppa Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joppa Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Junction
- Joppa Junction is located in Johnson County
- Karnak
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Karnak have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karnak
- Karnak is located in Pulaski County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Karnak <5>
- Moscow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - New Grand Chain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Grand Chain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grand Chain
- New Grand Chain is located in Pulaski County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 178 people
- Pleasant Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Johnson County
- Pond
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Sandburn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Tunnel Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tunnel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnel Hill
- Tunnel Hill is located in Johnson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tunnel Hill <5>
How Far From Bender 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 community such as Bender to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Bender once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Bender and extending to:
- Vienna, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies just to the North.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 170 miles [273.6 km]<3> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Bender to Springfield, with an average speed<6>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 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,449 miles [10,378.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,177 miles [11,550.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,054 miles [8,133.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bender, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Bender 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Bender) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bender. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3789, Longitude: -88.8920 In this case, the coordinates for Bender have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Bender 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 315.175 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.55 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.333 degrees. |