Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blackstone, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blackstone and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blackstone
- 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 Blackstone:
- 41.084477, -88.690901
- 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 Blackstone
- 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 Livingston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- Since Blackstone is near La Salle County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 Blackstone ...
We found eight communities that share the name Blackstone.
Within Illinois, the name Blackstone 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
- Fresno 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 California community of Blackstone [Fresno County].
- Kansas
- Sumner 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 Blackstone [Sumner County].
- Maine
- Aroostook County
- This Blackstone is located in Aroostook County and lies 1,089 miles [1,752.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Blackstone.
- Massachusetts
- Worcester County
- This Blackstone is located in Worcester County and lies 887 miles [1,427.5 km]<2> to the east of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Worcester County community of Blackstone.
- Nova Scotia
- This Blackstone lies 1,405 miles [2,261.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- Ontario
- This Blackstone lies 530 miles [853 km]<2> to the northeast of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- Pennsylvania
- Westmoreland County
- This Blackstone is located in Westmoreland County and lies 472 miles [759.6 km]<2> to the east of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Blackstone.
- Virginia
- Nottoway County
- This Blackstone is located in Nottoway County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Blackstone that is located in Livingston County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nottoway County community of Blackstone.
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blackstone ...
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.
- Budd
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Coalville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Katy Did
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Kinsman
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinsman
- Kinsman is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kinsman <4>
- Manville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Nevada
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - New Michigan ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Michigan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Michigan
- New Michigan is located in Livingston County
- Otter ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Ransom
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom
- Ransom is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 350 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ransom <4>
- Reading
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Richards
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Blackstone 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 community such as Blackstone to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blackstone and extending to:
- Pontiac, which is the Seat of Livingston County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Blackstone to Pontiac, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 103 miles [165.8 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 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 634 miles [1,020.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,260 miles [10,074.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,998 miles [11,262.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,882 miles [7,856.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blackstone. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Livingston County: www.livingstoncounty-il.org/
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 Blackstone 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blackstone) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blackstone. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0845, Longitude: -88.6909 In this case, the coordinates for Blackstone have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Blackstone to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.137 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.02 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.311 degrees. |