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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Clifford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Clifford 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 Clifford:
    • 37.823661, -89.077299
    • 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 Clifford
  • 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 Williamson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williamson County
    • Since Clifford is near Franklin County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Clifford

Communities Also Named Clifford ...

We found 21 communities that are also named Clifford.

Within Illinois, the name Clifford is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of 21 communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these 21 communities, twenty are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Lincoln County
      • This Clifford is located in Lincoln County and lies 775 miles [1,247.2 km]<1> to the west of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Clifford.
    • Indiana
      • Bartholomew County
      • This Clifford is located in Bartholomew County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bartholomew County community of Clifford.
    • Kansas
      • Smith 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 Kansas community of Clifford [Smith County].
    • Kentucky
      • Lawrence County
      • This Clifford is located in Lawrence County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the east of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Clifford.
    • Louisiana
      • Webster Parish
      • This Clifford is located in Webster Parish and lies 416 miles [669.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster Parish community of Clifford.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore City
      • This Clifford is located in Baltimore City and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore City community of Clifford.
    • Massachusetts
      • Bristol County
      • This Clifford is located in Bristol County and lies 997 miles [1,604.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bristol County community of Clifford.
    • Michigan
      • Lapeer County
      • This Clifford is located in Lapeer County and lies 489 miles [787 km]<1> to the northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lapeer County community of Clifford.
    • Minnesota
      • Becker 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 Clifford [Becker County].
    • Mississippi
      • Bolivar County
      • This Clifford is located in Bolivar County and lies 294 miles [473.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bolivar County community of Clifford.
    • Missouri
      • Polk County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Clifford [Polk County].
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Clifford.
    • New York
      • Oswego County
      • This Clifford is located in Oswego County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of Clifford.
    • North Dakota
      • Traill County
      • This Clifford is located in Traill County and lies 781 miles [1,256.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Traill County community of Clifford.
    • Ohio
      • Scioto County
      • This Clifford is located in Scioto County and lies 336 miles [540.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scioto County community of Clifford.
    • Ontario
      • This Clifford lies 598 miles [962.4 km]<1> to the northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Snyder 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 Pennsylvania community of Clifford [Snyder County].
      • Susquehanna County
      • This Clifford is located in Susquehanna County and lies 761 miles [1,224.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Susquehanna County community of Clifford.
    • Texas
      • Collingsworth 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 Texas community of Clifford [Collingsworth County].
    • Virginia
      • Amherst County
      • This Clifford is located in Amherst County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<1> to the east of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amherst County community of Clifford.
    • Wisconsin
      • Lincoln County
      • This Clifford is located in Lincoln County and lies 536 miles [862.6 km]<1> to the north of the Clifford that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Clifford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Clifford ...

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.

  • Bush
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bush is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
  • Carterville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Chittyville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Chittyville is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittyville
  • Crainville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Crainville is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
  • Eden Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Eden Park is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Park
  • Energy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Energy is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Energy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,086 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Energy <4>
  • Freeman Spur
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Freeman Spur is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Spur
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Freeman Spur has also been known as:
    • Freeman Spur village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeman Spur <4>
  • Lake Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Creek is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Creek
  • Mitchell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mitchell is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Paineville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Paineville is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paineville
  • Plumfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Plumfield is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
  • Reeds Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Reeds Station is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Station
  • Sunnyside
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Sunnyside is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside

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

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

  • Marion, which is the Seat of Williamson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Clifford to Marion, 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 138 miles [222.1 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 655 miles [1,054.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,434 miles [10,354.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,164 miles [11,529.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,042 miles [8,114.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Clifford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Clifford 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>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 Clifford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Clifford 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 Clifford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8237, Longitude: -89.0773       In this case, the coordinates for Clifford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.312 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.769 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.315 degrees.