Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Eckard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eckard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Eckard
- 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 Eckard:
- 40.319764, -89.989004
- 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 Eckard
- 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Since Eckard is near Fulton County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fulton County
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Eckard ...
We found one communities that share the name Eckard.
Within Illinois, the name Eckard is unique.
Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Eckard in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Eckard ...
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.
- Bishop
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Buzzville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzville
- Buzzville is located in Mason County
- Goofy Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goofy Ridge
- Goofy Ridge is located in Mason County
- Havana
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Mason County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,945 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Havana <3>
- Little America
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little America have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little America
- Little America is located in Fulton County
- Liverpool
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liverpool have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
- Liverpool is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liverpool <3>
- Long Branch
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Long Branch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Long Branch is located in Mason County
- Maples Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maples Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maples Mill
- Maples Mill is located in Fulton County
- Peterville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peterville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterville
- Peterville is located in Mason County
- Poplar City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Poplar City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar City
- Poplar City is located in Mason County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplar City <3>
- Quiver Beach
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quiver Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiver Beach
- Quiver Beach is located in Mason County
How Far From Eckard 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 community such as Eckard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Eckard and extending to:
- Havana, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 41 miles [66 km]<5> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Eckard to Springfield, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 695 miles [1,118.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,345 miles [10,211.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,084 miles [11,400.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,968 miles [7,995.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Eckard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mason County: www.masoncountyil.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Eckard 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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- Eckard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Eckard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3198, Longitude: -89.9890 In this case, the coordinates for Eckard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Eckard to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.987 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.887 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.144 degrees. |