Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Chatham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chatham and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Chatham
- 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 Chatham:
- 39.671415, -89.696720
- 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 Chatham
- 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 Sangamon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- Since Chatham is near Christian County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Christian County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Chatham ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Chatham.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Chatham.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 25 communities, 23 are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alaska
- This Chatham lies 2,344 miles [3,772.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- Connecticut
- Tolland County
- Although located in Tolland County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tolland County community of Chatham.
- Delaware
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Harford County
- This Chatham is located in Harford County and lies 714 miles [1,149.1 km]<1> to the east of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harford County community of Chatham.
- Howard County
- This Chatham is located in Howard County and lies 685 miles [1,102.4 km] to the east of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Chatham.
- Prince George's County
- This Chatham is located in Prince George's County and lies 681 miles [1,096 km] to the east of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Chatham.
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Kittson County
- This Chatham is located in Kittson County and lies 718 miles [1,155.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kittson County community of Chatham.
- Wright County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Chatham [Wright County].
- Mississippi
- New Brunswick
- This Chatham lies 1,311 miles [2,109.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Licking County
- This Chatham is located in Licking County and lies 384 miles [618 km]<1> to the east of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Licking County community of Chatham.
- Medina County
- This Chatham is located in Medina County and lies 415 miles [667.9 km] to the east northeast of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Medina County community of Chatham.
- Ontario
- This Chatham lies 434 miles [698.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec
- This Chatham lies 876 miles [1,409.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Chatham that is located in Sangamon County.
- Virginia
- Wyoming
- Alaska
Curious and Interesting Names Near Chatham ...
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.
- Archer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Cody
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Cotton Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotton Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
- Cotton Hill is located in Sangamon County
- Glenarm
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenarm
- Glenarm is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenarm <4>
- Irwins Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwins Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwins Park
- Irwins Park is located in Sangamon County
- Jerome
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Jess
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Knapp
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Mildred
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - New City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Riddle Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riddle Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle Hill
- Riddle Hill is located in Sangamon County
- Shale Bluff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shale Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale Bluff
- Shale Bluff is located in Sangamon County
- Woodside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
How Far From Chatham 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 Chatham to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Chatham and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the Seat of Sangamon County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies just to the north northeast (NNE).
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Chatham to White House, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 39 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 27 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,366 miles [10,245.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,103 miles [11,431.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,985 miles [8,022.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Chatham: www.chathamil.net/
The official website for Sangamon County: www.co.sangamon.il.us/
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- Chatham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chatham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6714, Longitude: -89.6967 In this case, the coordinates for Chatham 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Chatham 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 Chatham 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 315.777 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.558 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.163 degrees. |