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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Coalton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Coalton and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Coalton:
    • 40.432536, -87.590021
    • 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 Coalton
  • 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 Vermilion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vermilion County
    • Since Coalton is near Warren County and also Benton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Benton 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 Coalton

Communities Also Named Coalton ...

We found six communities that are also named Coalton.

There is one other community in Illinois that is also named Coalton.

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

  • Communities Located In Illinois ...
    • Montgomery County
      • This Coalton is located in Montgomery County and lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Coalton that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Coalton.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Monroe 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 Iowa community of Coalton [Monroe County].
    • Kentucky
      • Boyd County
      • This Coalton is located in Boyd County and lies 293 miles [471.5 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Coalton that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boyd County community of Coalton.
    • Ohio
      • Jackson County
      • This Coalton is located in Jackson County and lies 279 miles [449 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Coalton that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Coalton.
    • Oklahoma
      • Okmulgee County
      • This Coalton is located in Okmulgee County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Coalton that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Okmulgee County community of Coalton.
    • West Virginia
      • Randolph County
      • This Coalton is located in Randolph County and lies 418 miles [672.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Coalton that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Coalton.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Coalton ...

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.

  • Blue Grass ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Grass is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
  • Carbondale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Carbondale is located in Warren County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbondale
  • Chase
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chase is located in Benton County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
  • Fountain Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fountain Creek is located in Iroquois County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Creek
  • Free
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Free is located in Benton County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free
  • Freeland Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Freeland Park is located in Benton County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeland Park
  • Goodwine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Gray Ford
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gray Ford is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Ford
  • Handy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Handy is located in Benton County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy
  • Heaton
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Heaton is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heaton
  • Hooker Corner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hooker Corner is located in Warren County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker Corner
  • Hustle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Hustle is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustle
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Jamesburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jamesburg is located in Vermilion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg
    • Judyville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Judyville is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judyville
    • Rainsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Rainsville is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsville
    • Rocky Ford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Rocky Ford is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
    • Sycamore Corner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Sycamore Corner is located in Warren County (IN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Corner

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

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

  • Danville, which is the Seat of Vermilion County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Coalton to Danville, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 117 miles [188.3 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 570 miles [917.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,250 miles [10,058.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,985 miles [11,241.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,865 miles [7,829.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Coalton) 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 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 Coalton 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Coalton 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 Coalton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4325, Longitude: -87.5900       In this case, the coordinates for Coalton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.407 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.094 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.956 degrees.