Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue Grass, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Grass and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue Grass
- 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 Blue Grass:
- 40.357536, -87.825862
- 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 Blue Grass
- 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 Vermilion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Vermilion County
- Since Blue Grass is near Champaign County and also Ford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- eBird sighting report for Ford 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 Blue Grass ...
We found eight communities that share the name Blue Grass.
Within Illinois, the name Blue Grass is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Scott County
- This Blue Grass is located in Scott County and lies 172 miles [276.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Blue Grass.
- Kentucky
- Fayette County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Blue Grass [Fayette County].
- Madison County
- This Blue Grass is located in Madison County and lies 254 miles [408.8 km]<1> to the southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Blue Grass.
- Minnesota
- Wadena County
- This Blue Grass is located in Wadena County and lies 558 miles [898 km]<1> to the northwest of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wadena County community of Blue Grass.
- Oklahoma
- Beaver County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Blue Grass [Beaver County].
- Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia County
- This Blue Grass is located in Philadelphia County and lies 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the east of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Blue Grass.
- Tennessee
- Knox County
- This Blue Grass is located in Knox County and lies 371 miles [597.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Blue Grass.
- Virginia
- Highland County
- This Blue Grass is located in Highland County and lies 459 miles [738.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Vermilion County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highland County community of Blue Grass.
- Iowa
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Grass ...
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.
- Clarence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Dailey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Fountain Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fountain Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Creek
- Fountain Creek is located in Iroquois County
- Gerald
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Gray Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Heaton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Hope
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Hustle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Jamesburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Blue Grass to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Blue Grass 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<4> community of Blue Grass once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue Grass and extending to:
- Danville, which is the Seat of Vermilion County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blue Grass to Danville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 104 miles [167.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 582 miles [936.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,263 miles [10,079.3 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 4,878 miles [7,850.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Vermilion County: www.co.vermilion.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Blue Grass) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Grass. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3575, Longitude: -87.8259 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Grass have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 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 Blue Grass 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> | 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> | 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 Blue Grass, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Blue Grass 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 314.561 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.259 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.089 degrees. |