RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Sangamon County >> Cotton Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cotton Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cotton Hill 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 Cotton Hill:
    • 39.696162, -89.630097
    • 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 Cotton Hill
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
    • Since Cotton Hill is near Christian County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Christian County
    • Open the 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Cotton Hill

Communities Also Named Cotton Hill ...

We found four communities that are also named Cotton Hill.

Within Illinois, the name Cotton Hill is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Barbour County
      • This Cotton Hill is located in Barbour County and lies 594 miles [956 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cotton Hill that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barbour County community of Cotton Hill.
    • Georgia
      • Clay County
      • This Cotton Hill is located in Clay County and lies 608 miles [978.5 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Cotton Hill that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Cotton Hill.
    • South Carolina
      • Dorchester County
      • This Cotton Hill is located in Dorchester County and lies 696 miles [1,120.1 km]<1> to the southeast of the Cotton Hill that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dorchester County community of Cotton Hill.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Cotton Hill is located in Fayette County and lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<1> to the east of the Cotton Hill that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Cotton Hill.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cotton Hill ...

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
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Archer is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
  • Berry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Berry is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry
  • Cascade
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Cascade is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
  • Clear Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
  • Cody
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cody is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cody
  • Glenarm
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Grandview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
  • Irwins Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Irwins Park is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwins Park
  • Jerome
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jerome is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
  • Jess
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jess is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jess
  • Mildred
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mildred is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
  • New City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • New City is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New City
  • Shale Bluff
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Shale Bluff is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale Bluff
  • Woodside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside

How Far From Cotton Hill 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 community such as Cotton Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Sangamon County, lies just to the North.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies just to the north (N).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Cotton Hill to White House, with an average speed<3>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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,363 miles [10,240.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,099 miles [11,424.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,981 miles [8,016.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cotton Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Cotton Hill 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 Cotton Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6962, Longitude: -89.6301       In this case, the coordinates for Cotton Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.734 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.511 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.125 degrees.