Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Benson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benson and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Benson
- 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 Benson:
- 40.850371, -89.120950
- 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 Benson
- 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 Woodford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Woodford County
- Since Benson is near Marshall County and also La Salle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- eBird sighting report for La Salle 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 Benson ...
We found 28 communities that share the name Benson.
Within Illinois, the name Benson is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 28 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 28 communities, 27 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Chilton 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 Alabama community of Benson [Chilton County].
- Etowah County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Benson [Etowah County].
- Tallapoosa County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Benson [Tallapoosa County].
- Arizona
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Harford County
- This Benson is located in Harford County and lies 677 miles [1,089.5 km]<3> to the east of the Benson that is located in Woodford County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Benson.
- Howard County
- This Benson is located in Howard County and lies 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the east of the Benson that is located in Woodford County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Benson.
- Michigan
- Oakland 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 Michigan community of Benson [Oakland County].
- Wexford County
- This Benson is located in Wexford County and lies 296 miles [476.4 km]<3> to the northeast of the Benson that is located in Woodford County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wexford County community of Benson.
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Benson lies 897 miles [1,443.6 km]<3> to the northwest of the Benson that is located in Woodford County.
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Benson ...
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.
- Bowling Green ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowling Green have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowling Green
- Bowling Green is located in Woodford County
- Dana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dana have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
- Dana is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dana <5>
- Eureka
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Eureka is located in Woodford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,232 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eureka <5>
- Evans ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
- Evans is located in Marshall County
- Hickory Point
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Point
- Hickory Point is located in Woodford County
- Long Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
- Long Point is located in Livingston County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Long Point <5>
- Low Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Porterfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porterfield have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterfield
- Porterfield is located in Marshall County
- Rutland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rutland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
- Rutland is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rutland <5>
- Spires
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Waldo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
How Far From Benson 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 Benson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Benson and extending to:
- Eureka, which is the Seat of Woodford County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Benson to Eureka, with an average speed<6> 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 78 miles [125.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 653 miles [1,050.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,287 miles [10,117.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,026 miles [11,307.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,909 miles [7,900.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Benson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 Benson 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> | 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 Benson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8504, Longitude: -89.1209 In this case, the coordinates for Benson 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 Benson 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 315.42 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.311 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.584 degrees. |