Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Coal City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coal City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Coal City
- 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 Coal City:
- 41.279740, -88.277461
- 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 Coal City
- 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 Grundy County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grundy County
- Since Coal City is near Will County and also Kankakee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Will County
- eBird sighting report for Kankakee 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 Coal City ...
We found six communities that share the name Coal City.
Within Illinois, the name Coal City is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Coal City ...
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.
- Braidwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braidwood
- Braidwood is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,148 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Braidwood <2>
- Carbon Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Hill
- Carbon Hill is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Centerville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Grundy County
- Claypool
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claypool
- Claypool is located in Grundy County
- Diamond
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
- Diamond is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,484 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Diamond <2>
- Divine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Eileen
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Gaslight Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gaslight Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaslight Village
- Gaslight Village is located in Grundy County
- Pebble Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pebble Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Beach
- Pebble Beach is located in Grundy County
- Resthaven
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Willow Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Ridge
- Willow Ridge is located in Grundy County
How Far From Coal City 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 Coal City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Coal City and extending to:
- Morris, which is the Seat of Grundy County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Coal City to Morris, with an average speed<4> 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 126 miles [202.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 615 miles [989.7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,235 miles [10,034.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,973 miles [11,222 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,856 miles [7,815 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Coal City: www.coalcity-illinois.com/
The official website for Grundy County: www.grundyco.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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- Coal City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Coal City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2797, Longitude: -88.2775 In this case, the coordinates for Coal City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Coal City 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 314.864 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.735 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.055 degrees. |