Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Benton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Benton
- 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 Benton:
- 38.010912, -88.918004
- 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 Benton
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Benton is near Jefferson County and also Williamson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- eBird sighting report for Williamson 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 Benton ...
We found 40 communities that share the name Benton.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Benton.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 39 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 39 communities, 38 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Butler County
- This Benton is located in Butler County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km]<2> to the west of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Benton.
- Phillips 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 Kansas community of Benton [Phillips County].
- Kentucky
- Kenton 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 Kentucky community of Benton [Kenton County].
- Marshall County
- This Benton is located in Marshall County and lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Benton.
- Muhlenberg County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Benton [Muhlenberg County].
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Saint Louis City
- This Benton is located in Saint Louis City and lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis City community of Benton.
- Scott County
- This Benton is located in Scott County and lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the south southwest of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Benton.
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Brunswick
- This Benton lies 1,219 miles [1,961.8 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- This Benton lies 1,864 miles [2,999.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- Ohio
- Crawford County
- This Benton is located in Crawford County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<2> to the northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Benton.
- Hancock 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 Ohio community of Benton [Hancock County].
- Holmes County
- This Benton is located in Holmes County and lies 417 miles [671.1 km] to the east northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Holmes County community of Benton.
- Lorain County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Lorain County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lorain County community of Benton.
- Wood County
- This community is historic and although located in Wood County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Benton.
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Columbia County
- This Benton is located in Columbia County and lies 701 miles [1,128.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Benton.
- Lancaster County
- This Benton is located in Lancaster County and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km] to the east northeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Benton.
- Tennessee
- Marshall 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 Tennessee community of Benton [Marshall County].
- Polk County
- This Benton is located in Polk County and lies 306 miles [492.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Benton that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Polk County community of Benton.
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Benton ...
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.
- Christopher
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christopher have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christopher
- Christopher is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,686 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Christopher <5>
- Diana
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Greenville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Greenville is located in Franklin County
- Hickory Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corners
- Hickory Corners is located in Franklin County
- Jenkins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Mitchell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Plumfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Rust
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Smothersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smothersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Steel City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
- Steel City is located in Franklin County
How Far From Benton 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 city such as Benton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Benton and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 128 miles [206 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Benton to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 644 miles [1,036.4 km] to the east (E). 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 6,419 miles [10,330.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,149 miles [11,505.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,027 miles [8,090.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Benton. 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Benton 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Benton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Benton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0109, Longitude: -88.9180 In this case, the coordinates for Benton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Benton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Benton 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 315.217 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.685 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.198 degrees. |