Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Burke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Burke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Burke
- 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 Burke:
- 42.051136, -90.036792
- 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 Burke
- 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- Since Burke is near Jackson County and also Clinton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Clinton 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 Burke ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Burke.
Within Illinois, the name Burke is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- New York
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Botetourt 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 Virginia community of Burke [Botetourt County].
- Fairfax County
- This Burke is located in Fairfax County and lies 706 miles [1,136.2 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Burke that is located in Carroll County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Burke.
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Burke ...
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.
- Arnold
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Arnold is located in Carroll County
- Elk River Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River Junction
- Elk River Junction is located in Clinton County (IA)
- Fair Haven
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
- Fair Haven is located in Carroll County
- Georgetown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Georgetown is located in Carroll County
- Hickory Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Carroll County
- Ideal
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ideal
- Ideal is located in Carroll County
- Marcus
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Marcus is located in Carroll County
- Spring Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Spring Valley is located in Whiteside County
- Ustick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - Wacker
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wacker
- Wacker is located in Carroll County
How Far From Burke 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 Burke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Burke and extending to:
- Mount Carroll, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Burke to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 715 miles [1,150.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,261 miles [10,076.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,004 miles [11,271.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,893 miles [7,874.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Burke. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Carroll County: visitcarrollcountyil.com/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 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 Burke 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Burke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Burke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0511, Longitude: -90.0368 In this case, the coordinates for Burke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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 Burke to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.046 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.194 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.721 degrees. |