Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Erie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Erie and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Erie
- 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 Erie:
- 41.658455, -90.081646
- 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 Erie
- 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 Whiteside County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Whiteside County
- Since Erie is near Rock Island County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rock Island County
- eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Erie ...
We found 24 communities that share the name Erie.
Within Illinois, the name Erie 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.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- British Columbia
- This Erie lies 1,409 miles [2,267.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Indiana
- Lawrence County
- This Erie is located in Lawrence County and lies 273 miles [439.4 km]<2> to the southeast of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Erie.
- Miami County
- This Erie is located in Miami County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km] to the east southeast of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami County community of Erie.
- Kansas
- Cowley County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Erie [Cowley County].
- Neosho County
- This Erie is located in Neosho County and lies 393 miles [632.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Neosho County community of Erie.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Becker County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Erie [Becker County].
- Pennington County
- This Erie is located in Pennington County and lies 521 miles [838.5 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pennington County community of Erie.
- Missouri
- Camden County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Camden County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Erie.
- McDonald County
- This Erie is located in McDonald County and lies 410 miles [659.8 km]<2> to the southwest of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McDonald County community of Erie.
- Nevada
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Kay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Erie [Kay County].
- Kingfisher County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Erie [Kingfisher County].
- Ontario
- This Erie lies 521 miles [838.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Erie that is located in Whiteside County.
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Erie ...
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.
- Aliceville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aliceville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aliceville
- Aliceville is located in Henry County
- Garden Plain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Plain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Plain
- Garden Plain is located in Whiteside County
- Leon Corners
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leon Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon Corners
- Leon Corners is located in Whiteside County
- Mineral Springs ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Mineral Springs is located in Whiteside County
- Oliver
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Prophetstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prophetstown
- Prophetstown is located in Whiteside County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,919 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prophetstown <5>
- Round Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Grove
- Round Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Shady Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Beach
- Shady Beach is located in Henry County
- Union Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Union Grove is located in Whiteside County
- Unionville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Unionville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Unionville is located in Whiteside County
How Far From Erie 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 village such as Erie to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Erie and extending to:
- Morrison, which is the Seat of Whiteside County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Erie to Morrison, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 131 miles [210.8 km] to the south (S). 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 712 miles [1,145.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,282 miles [10,109.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,024 miles [11,304 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,912 miles [7,905.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Erie. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Whiteside County: www.whiteside.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Erie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Erie) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Erie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6585, Longitude: -90.0816 In this case, the coordinates for Erie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Erie 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Erie 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 316.072 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.17 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.847 degrees. |