RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Brainerd >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Brainerd, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brainerd and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Brainerd:
    • 41.732812, -87.658383
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Brainerd
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Brainerd is near Lake County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Brainerd

Communities Also Named Brainerd ...

We found five communities that are also named Brainerd.

Within Illinois, the name Brainerd is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Poinsett County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Brainerd [Poinsett County].
    • Kansas
      • Butler County
      • This Brainerd is located in Butler County and lies 563 miles [906.1 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Brainerd that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Brainerd.
    • Manitoba
      • This Brainerd lies 727 miles [1,170 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brainerd that is located in Cook County.
    • Minnesota
      • Crow Wing County
      • This Brainerd is located in Crow Wing County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brainerd that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crow Wing County community of Brainerd.
    • Tennessee
      • Hamilton County
      • This Brainerd is located in Hamilton County and lies 481 miles [774.1 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Brainerd that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Brainerd.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brainerd ...

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.

  • Beverly
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Beverly is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Evergreen Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Gage Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gage Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gage Park
  • Grand Crossing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Crossing is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
  • Hometown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Honeymoon Row
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Honeymoon Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeymoon Row
  • Italian Bowery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Italian Bowery is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Bowery
  • Mexico
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mexico is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
  • Mount Greenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Greenwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Greenwood
  • Pierces Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Pierces Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Park
  • Poverty Row
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Poverty Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poverty Row
  • Roseland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Roseland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
  • Stony Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Stony Island is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Island
  • Woodlawn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodlawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Brainerd 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 Brainerd to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Brainerd and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Brainerd to Chicago, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 170 miles [273.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 592 miles [952.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,190 miles [9,961.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,929 miles [11,151.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,812 miles [7,744.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 Brainerd, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Brainerd) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Brainerd to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brainerd. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7328, Longitude: -87.6584       In this case, the coordinates for Brainerd have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.453 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.331 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.622 degrees.