Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Elco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elco and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Elco
- 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 Elco:
- 37.301800, -89.265379
- 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 Elco
- 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 Alexander County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Alexander County
- Since Elco is near Union County and also Pulaski County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski 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 Elco ...
We found two communities that share the name Elco.
Within Illinois, the name Elco is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elco ...
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.
- Anna
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna
- Anna is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,059 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anna <3>
- Clank
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Dutch Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Mills
- Dutch Mills is located in Union County
- Gale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Grays Point ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grays Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Point
- Grays Point is located in Scott County (MO)
- Olive Branch
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Branch
- Olive Branch is located in Alexander County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olive Branch <3>
- Perks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perks
- Perks is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perks <3>
- Pottsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
- Pottsville is located in Union County
- Pryortown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Unity
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Unity is located in Alexander County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Unity <3>
- Valley Mission
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Mission have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Mission
- Valley Mission is located in Union County
How Far From Elco 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 Elco to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elco and extending to:
- Cairo, which is the Seat of Alexander County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elco to Cairo, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 172 miles [276.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 673 miles [1,083.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,467 miles [10,407.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,196 miles [11,580.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,073 miles [8,164.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Elco. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Elco 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Elco) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3018, Longitude: -89.2654 |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Elco to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.411 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.811 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.52 degrees. |