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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brussels, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brussels 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 Brussels:
    • 38.948489, -90.589068
    • 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 Brussels
  • 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Since Brussels is near Saint Charles County and also Jersey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jersey 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 Brussels

Communities Also Named Brussels ...

We found two communities that are also named Brussels.

Within Illinois, the name Brussels is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ontario
      • This Brussels lies 585 miles [941.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Brussels that is located in Calhoun County.
    • Wisconsin
      • Door County
      • This Brussels is located in Door County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Brussels that is located in Calhoun County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Door County community of Brussels.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brussels ...

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.

  • Centerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Centerville is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Deer Plain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Deer Plain is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Plain
  • Democrat Spring
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Democrat Spring is located in Jersey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Democrat Spring
  • Elm Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Elm Point is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Point
  • Golden Eagle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Kampville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Kampville is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampville
  • Marshall Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Marshall Landing is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Landing
  • Maryknoll
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Maryknoll is located in Lincoln County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryknoll
  • Nutwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Nutwood is located in Jersey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutwood
  • Orchard Farm
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Orchard Farm is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Farm
  • Rosedale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Rosedale is located in Jersey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Seeburger
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Seeburger is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seeburger

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

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

  • Hardin, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Brussels to Hardin, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 76 miles [122.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 727 miles [1,170 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,435 miles [10,356.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,172 miles [11,542.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Brussels) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Brussels 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 Brussels. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9485, Longitude: -90.5891       In this case, the coordinates for Brussels have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.342 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.108 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.76 degrees.