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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Degognia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Degognia 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 Degognia:
    • 37.861594, -89.630169
    • 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 Degognia
  • 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Since Degognia is near Randolph County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Degognia

Curious and Interesting Names Near Degognia ...

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.

  • Crosstown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Crosstown is located in Perry County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosstown
  • Dry Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dry Hill is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Hill
  • Glenn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenn is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn
  • Jacob
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jones Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jones Ridge is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Ridge
  • Point Rest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Rest is located in Perry County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rest
  • Randolph
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Randolph is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
  • Rockwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Seventysix
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Seventysix is located in Perry County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seventysix
  • Starland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Starland is located in Perry County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starland
  • Wine Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Wine Hill is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Hill

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Degognia and extending to:

  • Murphysboro, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Degognia to Murphysboro, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 684 miles [1,100.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,453 miles [10,385.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,185 miles [11,563.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,063 miles [8,148.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Degognia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Degognia 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 Degognia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8616, Longitude: -89.6302       In this case, the coordinates for Degognia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.671 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.187 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.559 degrees.