Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Damascus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Damascus and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Damascus
- 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 Damascus:
- 42.372238, -89.706229
- 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 Damascus
- 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 Stephenson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stephenson County
- Since Damascus is near Green County and also Ogle County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Green County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Damascus ...
We found 25 communities that share the name Damascus.
Within Illinois, the name Damascus is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 24 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 24 communities, 22 are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
In addition to the above occurrences of Damascus, we know of another community located outside of the United States and Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Coffee County
- This Damascus is located in Coffee County and lies 789 miles [1,269.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coffee County community of Damascus.
- Cullman County
- This Damascus is located in Cullman County and lies 599 miles [964 km] to the south southeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of Damascus.
- Escambia County
- This Damascus is located in Escambia County and lies 789 miles [1,269.8 km] to the south southeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Escambia County community of Damascus.
- Arkansas
- Columbia County
- This Damascus is located in Columbia County and lies 654 miles [1,052.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Damascus.
- Van Buren County
- This Damascus is located in Van Buren County and lies 504 miles [811.1 km] to the south southwest of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Van Buren County community of Damascus.
- California
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Early County
- This Damascus is located in Early County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Early County community of Damascus.
- Gordon County
- This Damascus is located in Gordon County and lies 597 miles [960.8 km] to the south southeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gordon County community of Damascus.
- Maine
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Kemper County
- This Damascus is located in Kemper County and lies 672 miles [1,081.5 km]<1> to the south of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kemper County community of Damascus.
- Scott County
- This Damascus is located in Scott County and lies 678 miles [1,091.1 km] to the south of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Damascus.
- Missouri
- New Brunswick
- This Damascus lies 1,203 miles [1,936 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- New York
- Ohio
- Henry 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 Ohio community of Damascus [Henry County].
- Logan County
- This community is historic and although located in Logan County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Damascus.
- Mahoning County
- This Damascus is located in Mahoning County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<1> to the east of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mahoning County community of Damascus.
- Ontario
- This Damascus lies 476 miles [766 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Damascus that is located in Stephenson County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Alabama
- Communities Beyond North America ...
- Syria
- - Dimashq
- Distance: 6,174 miles [9,936.1 km]<1> to the northeast
- Syria
Curious and Interesting Names Near Damascus ...
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.
- Bolton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Cedarville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 675 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedarville <5>
- Dakota
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dakota
- Dakota is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dakota <5>
- Freeport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
- Freeport is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,447 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <5>
- Kent
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in Stephenson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent <5>
- Lena
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
- Lena is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,680 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lena <5>
- Martintown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martintown have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martintown
- Martintown is located in Green County (WI)
- Orangeville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
- Orangeville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 737 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orangeville <5>
- Pearl City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Pearl City is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl City <5>
- Red Oak
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Sunnyside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Yellow Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Yellow Creek is located in Stephenson County
How Far From Damascus 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 Damascus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Damascus and extending to:
- Freeport, which is the Seat of Stephenson County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Damascus to Springfield, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 705 miles [1,134.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,233 miles [10,031 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,977 miles [11,228.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,866 miles [7,831.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Damascus. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Stephenson County: www.co.stephenson.il.us/
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- Damascus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Damascus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3722, Longitude: -89.7062 In this case, the coordinates for Damascus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Damascus 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 Damascus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Damascus to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.824 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.985 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.466 degrees. |