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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Burgess:
    • 41.127365, -90.640106
    • 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 Burgess
  • 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
    • Since Burgess is near Warren County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Burgess

Communities Also Named Burgess ...

We found sixteen communities that are also named Burgess.

Within Illinois, the name Burgess is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of sixteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cherokee County
      • This Burgess is located in Cherokee County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Burgess.
    • California
      • Shasta County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Shasta County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Burgess.
    • Georgia
      • Heard County
      • This Burgess is located in Heard County and lies 609 miles [980.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Heard County community of Burgess.
    • Kansas
      • Butler County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Burgess [Butler County].
      • Johnson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Burgess [Johnson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Boyd County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Burgess [Boyd County].
    • Michigan
      • Charlevoix County
      • This Burgess is located in Charlevoix County and lies 401 miles [645.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charlevoix County community of Burgess.
    • Mississippi
      • Lafayette County
      • This Burgess is located in Lafayette County and lies 471 miles [758 km]<1> to the south of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lafayette County community of Burgess.
    • Missouri
      • Barton County
      • This Burgess is located in Barton County and lies 325 miles [523 km]<1> to the southwest of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barton County community of Burgess.
    • North Carolina
      • Perquimans County
      • This Burgess is located in Perquimans County and lies 840 miles [1,351.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Perquimans County community of Burgess.
    • North Dakota
      • Morton County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Dakota community of Burgess [Morton County].
    • South Carolina
      • Horry County
      • This Burgess is located in Horry County and lies 819 miles [1,318.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Horry County community of Burgess.
    • Tennessee
      • Putnam County
      • This Burgess is located in Putnam County and lies 442 miles [711.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Burgess.
    • Texas
      • Bell County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Burgess [Bell County].
    • Virginia
      • Dinwiddie County
      • This Burgess is located in Dinwiddie County and lies 754 miles [1,213.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dinwiddie County community of Burgess.
      • Northumberland County
      • This Burgess is located in Northumberland County and lies 792 miles [1,274.6 km] to the east southeast of the Burgess that is located in Mercer County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Northumberland County community of Burgess.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Burgess ...

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.

  • Alexis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Denny ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Denny is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denny
  • Eleanor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Griffin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Little York
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Martin ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Martin is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Shale City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Shale City is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
  • Shanghai City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shanghai City is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
  • Spring Grove ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Spring Grove is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
  • Sugar Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugar Grove is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
  • Sunbeam
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Aledo, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 106 miles [170.6 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Burgess to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 734 miles [1,181.3 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,328 miles [10,183.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,071 miles [11,379.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,958 miles [7,979.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Burgess) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Burgess, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Burgess 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.
<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 Burgess 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 Burgess. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1274, Longitude: -90.6401    
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.44 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.518 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.262 degrees.