Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Chapin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chapin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Chapin
- 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 Chapin:
- 39.767020, -90.402741
- 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 Chapin
- 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- Since Chapin is near Scott County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Chapin ...
We found ten communities that share the name Chapin.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Chapin.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New York
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Chapin ...
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
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Columbus ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Florence
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest) - Joy Prairie
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joy Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy Prairie
- Joy Prairie is located in Morgan County
- Little Indian
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Indian have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Indian
- Little Indian is located in Cass County
- Lynnville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Naples
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Naples have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
- Naples is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Naples <4>
- Portuguese Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portuguese Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portuguese Hill
- Portuguese Hill is located in Morgan County
- Savage ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Valley City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley City
- Valley City is located in Pike County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14 people
How Far From Chapin 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 village such as Chapin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Chapin and extending to:
- Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Chapin to Jacksonville, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 39 miles [62.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 715 miles [1,150.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,388 miles [10,280.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,126 miles [11,468.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,009 miles [8,061.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Chapin. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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- Chapin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chapin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7670, Longitude: -90.4027 In this case, the coordinates for Chapin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Chapin 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. |
| <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'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 Chapin to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.247 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.11 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.479 degrees. |