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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Elbridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elbridge 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 Elbridge:
    • 39.512692, -87.582781
    • 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 Elbridge
  • 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 Edgar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Edgar County
    • Since Elbridge is near Clark County and also Vigo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clark County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vigo 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 Elbridge

Communities Also Named Elbridge ...

We found four communities that are also named Elbridge.

Within Illinois, the name Elbridge is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Michigan
      • Oceana County
      • This Elbridge is located in Oceana County and lies 296 miles [476.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Elbridge that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oceana County community of Elbridge.
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Elbridge is located in Onondaga County and lies 626 miles [1,007.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elbridge that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Elbridge.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Tioga County
      • This Elbridge is located in Tioga County and lies 564 miles [907.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Elbridge that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tioga County community of Elbridge.
    • Tennessee
      • Obion County
      • This Elbridge is located in Obion County and lies 243 miles [391.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Elbridge that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Obion County community of Elbridge.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elbridge ...

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.

  • Castle Fin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Castle Fin is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Fin
  • Easytown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Easytown is located in Vermillion County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easytown
  • Golf Lakes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Golf Lakes is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf Lakes
  • Griffin ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Griffin is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
  • Kentucky
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Libertyville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Marion Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Marion Heights is located in Vigo County (IN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Heights
  • Marley
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Marley is located in Edgar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marley
  • Oliver
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pine Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Toad Hop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Weaver
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

How Far From Elbridge to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Elbridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Paris, which is the Seat of Edgar County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Elbridge to Paris, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 111 miles [178.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 565 miles [909.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,295 miles [10,130.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,026 miles [11,307.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,905 miles [7,893.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Elbridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Elbridge 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 Elbridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5127, Longitude: -87.5828       In this case, the coordinates for Elbridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.393 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.947 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.202 degrees.