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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cortland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cortland 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 Cortland:
    • 41.919418, -88.681135
    • 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 Cortland
  • 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
    • Since Cortland is near Kane County and also Ogle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kane County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ogle 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 Cortland

Communities Also Named Cortland ...

We found six communities that are also named Cortland.

Within Illinois, the name Cortland is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Indiana
      • Jackson County
      • This Cortland is located in Jackson County and lies 248 miles [399.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Cortland that is located in DeKalb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Cortland.
    • Nebraska
      • Gage County
      • This Cortland is located in Gage County and lies 427 miles [687.2 km]<1> to the west of the Cortland that is located in DeKalb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gage County community of Cortland.
    • New York
      • Cortland County
      • This Cortland is located in Cortland County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<1> to the east of the Cortland that is located in DeKalb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cortland County community of Cortland.
    • Ohio
      • Trumbull County
      • This Cortland is located in Trumbull County and lies 412 miles [663 km]<1> to the east of the Cortland that is located in DeKalb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Trumbull County community of Cortland.
    • West Virginia
      • Tucker County
      • This Cortland is located in Tucker County and lies 523 miles [841.7 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cortland that is located in DeKalb County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tucker County community of Cortland.
    • Wisconsin
      • Trempealeau County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Cortland [Trempealeau County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cortland ...

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.

  • Big Rock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Blackberry Woods
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Blackberry Woods is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry Woods
  • Charter Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
  • Clare
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Empire Hills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Empire Hills is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire Hills
  • Far View
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Far View is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Far View
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Points is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Foxfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Foxfield is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfield
  • Hedgerow
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Hedgerow is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgerow
  • High Point
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • High Point is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Indian Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Indian Creek is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Kaneville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Kings Mill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Kings Mill is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Mill
    • Malta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Maple Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mary Meadows
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Mary Meadows is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Meadows
    • Native Prairie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Native Prairie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Native Prairie
    • Still Meadows
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Still Meadows is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Meadows

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

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

  • Sycamore, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies just to the North.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 156 miles [251.1 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Cortland to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 646 miles [1,039.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,959 miles [11,199.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,845 miles [7,797.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cortland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Cortland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Cortland 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 Cortland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9194, Longitude: -88.6811       In this case, the coordinates for Cortland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.134 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.134 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.076 degrees.