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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brookline, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brookline 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 Brookline:
    • 41.762256, -87.608104
    • 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 Brookline
  • 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 Brookline 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 Brookline

Communities Also Named Brookline ...

We found ten communities that are also named Brookline.

Within Illinois, the name Brookline is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Pima 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 Arizona community of Brookline [Pima County].
    • Massachusetts
      • Norfolk County
      • This Brookline is located in Norfolk County and lies 845 miles [1,359.9 km]<2> to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norfolk County community of Brookline.
    • Missouri
      • Greene County
      • This Brookline is located in Greene County and lies 443 miles [712.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Brookline.
    • New Hampshire
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Brookline is located in Hillsborough County and lies 816 miles [1,313.2 km]<2> to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Brookline.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allegheny County
      • This Brookline is located in Allegheny County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<2> to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Brookline.
      • Berks County
      • This Brookline is located in Berks County and lies 615 miles [989.7 km] to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berks County community of Brookline.
      • Delaware County
      • This Brookline is located in Delaware County and lies 653 miles [1,050.9 km] to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Brookline.
    • Quebec
      • This Brookline lies 754 miles [1,213.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
    • Texas
      • Harris County
      • This Brookline is located in Harris County and lies 936 miles [1,506.3 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Brookline.
    • Vermont
      • Windham County
      • This Brookline is located in Windham County and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<2> to the east of the Brookline that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Windham County community of Brookline.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brookline ...

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.

  • Back of the Yards
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Back of the Yards is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Back of the Yards
  • Beverly
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Beverly is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly
  • Bronzeville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Bronzeville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronzeville
  • Forestville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Forestville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
  • Fuller Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Fuller Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller Park
  • Grand Boulevard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grand Boulevard is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Boulevard
  • Grand Crossing
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Grand Crossing is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Crossing
  • Grant Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grant Village is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
  • Irondale ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Irondale is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
  • Italian Bowery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • 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
  • New City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • New City is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • New Patch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • New Patch is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Patch
    • Pierces Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Pierces Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierces Park
    • Poverty Row
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Poverty Row is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poverty Row
    • Roseland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Roseland is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Stony Island
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Stony Island is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Island
    • Whiskey Row
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Whiskey Row is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Row
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Woodlawn is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the North.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Brookline to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 590 miles [949.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,187 miles [9,957 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,809 miles [7,739.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Brookline 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Brookline) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Brookline 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 Brookline. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7623, Longitude: -87.6081       In this case, the coordinates for Brookline have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.42 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.297 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.588 degrees.