RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Will County >> The Fields >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Fields, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Fields 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 The Fields:
    • 41.611667, -88.025556
    • 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 The Fields
  • 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 Will County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Will County
    • Since The Fields is near Cook County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 The Fields

Communities Also Named The Fields ...

We found eleven communities that are also named The Fields.

Within Illinois, the name The Fields is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Macon County
      • This The Fields is located in Macon County and lies 681 miles [1,096 km]<1> to the south southeast of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Macon County community of The Fields.
    • Indiana
      • Lake County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of The Fields [Lake County].
      • Morgan County
      • This The Fields is located in Morgan County and lies 167 miles [268.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of The Fields.
    • Louisiana
      • Beauregard Parish
      • This The Fields is located in Beauregard Parish and lies 825 miles [1,327.7 km]<1> to the south southwest of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beauregard Parish community of The Fields.
    • Michigan
      • Newaygo County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of The Fields [Newaygo County].
    • Montana
      • Cascade County
      • This The Fields is located in Cascade County and lies 1,206 miles [1,940.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cascade County community of The Fields.
    • North Carolina
      • Lenoir County
      • This The Fields is located in Lenoir County and lies 706 miles [1,136.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lenoir County community of The Fields.
    • Ohio
      • Lorain County
      • This The Fields is located in Lorain County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<1> to the east of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lorain County community of The Fields.
    • Oregon
      • Harney County
      • This The Fields is located in Harney County and lies 1,566 miles [2,520.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harney County community of The Fields.
      • Lane County
      • This The Fields is located in Lane County and lies 1,734 miles [2,790.6 km] to the west northwest of the The Fields that is located in Will County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of The Fields.
    • Virginia
      • Mecklenburg County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of The Fields [Mecklenburg County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Fields ...

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.

  • Broken Arrow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Broken Arrow is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broken Arrow
  • Cache Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cache Lake is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cache Lake
  • Cinnamon Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cinnamon Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnamon Creek
  • Deer Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Deer Run is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Run
  • Erin Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Erin Hills is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin Hills
  • Lockport
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Long Run Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Run Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Run Creek
  • Pebble Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Pebble Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Creek
  • Romeo
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Romeo is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
  • Shady Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Shady Hollow is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Hollow
  • Spring Creek Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Spring Creek Woods is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek Woods
  • Twin Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Twin Creek is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Creek
  • Whispering Pines
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Will County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines

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

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

  • Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 152 miles [244.6 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from The Fields to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 608 miles [978.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,948 miles [11,181.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,832 miles [7,776.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- The Fields) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 The Fields 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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 The Fields 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 The Fields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6117, Longitude: -88.0256       In this case, the coordinates for The Fields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.697 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.592 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.838 degrees.