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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Buttonwood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Buttonwood 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 Buttonwood:
    • 42.128889, -87.807500
    • 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 Buttonwood
  • 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 Buttonwood 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 Buttonwood

Communities Also Named Buttonwood ...

We found three communities that are also named Buttonwood.

Within Illinois, the name Buttonwood is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Delaware
      • New Castle County
      • This Buttonwood is located in New Castle County and lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km]<1> to the east of the Buttonwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Buttonwood.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Luzerne County
      • This Buttonwood is located in Luzerne County and lies 614 miles [988.1 km]<1> to the east of the Buttonwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luzerne County community of Buttonwood.
      • Lycoming County
      • This Buttonwood is located in Lycoming County and lies 550 miles [885.1 km] to the east of the Buttonwood that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lycoming County community of Buttonwood.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Buttonwood ...

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.

  • Charring Cross
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Charring Cross is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charring Cross
  • Colonial Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Colonial Village is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Driftwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Driftwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood
  • Fair Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Fair Meadows is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Meadows
  • Fair Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Lane Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Lane Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Park
  • Lee Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lee Woods is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Woods
  • Mallard Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Mallard Creek is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Creek
  • Maple Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Maple Ridge is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
  • Royal Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Royal Ridge is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Ridge
  • Solar Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Solar Grove is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solar Grove
  • Sun Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Sun Ridge is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Ridge
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Sunset Court
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sunset Court is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Court
    • Sunset Fields
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sunset Fields is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Fields
    • Sycamore Lane
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sycamore Lane is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Lane
    • Thorn Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Thorn Hill is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hill
    • Timber Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge

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

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Buttonwood to Chicago, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 188 miles [302.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 607 miles [976.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,176 miles [9,939.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,916 miles [11,130.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Buttonwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Buttonwood 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 Buttonwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1289, Longitude: -87.8075       In this case, the coordinates for Buttonwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.55 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.497 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.581 degrees.