Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fitt's Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fitt's Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fitt's Hill
- 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 Fitt's Hill:
- 37.881049, -88.810469
- 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 Fitt's Hill
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Fitt's Hill is near Williamson County and also Saline County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Williamson County
- eBird sighting report for Saline 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fitt's Hill ...
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.
- Greenville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Greenville is located in Franklin County
- Halltown ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Jenkins
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Locust Grove ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
- Locust Grove is located in Franklin County
- Rust
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Shakerag
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Smothersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smothersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Steel City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
- Steel City is located in Franklin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Steel City
- From Fitt's Hill to Steel City
How Far From Fitt's Hill 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 Fitt's Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Fitt's Hill once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Fitt's Hill and extending to:
- Benton, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fitt's Hill to Benton, with an average speed<4> 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 138 miles [222.1 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 640 miles [1,030 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,421 miles [10,333.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,150 miles [11,506.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,028 miles [8,091.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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 Fitt's Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fitt's Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fitt's Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8810, Longitude: -88.8105 |
| <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 Fitt's Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.143 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.581 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.179 degrees. |