RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
Quarter for
Illinois


The Commemorative Quarter for Illinois







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Garrett, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Garrett and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Garrett:
    • 39.796926, -88.424609
    • 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 Garrett
  • 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 Garrett ...

We found fourteen communities that share the name Garrett.

Within Illinois, the name Garrett is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Johnson County
      • This Garrett is located in Johnson County and lies 405 miles [651.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Garrett.
    • Indiana
      • DeKalb County
      • This Garrett is located in DeKalb County and lies 203 miles [326.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the DeKalb County community of Garrett.
    • Kentucky
      • Floyd County
      • This Garrett is located in Floyd County and lies 341 miles [548.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Garrett.
      • Meade County
      • This Garrett is located in Meade County and lies 180 miles [289.7 km] to the southeast of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meade County community of Garrett.
      • Woodford 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 Kentucky community of Garrett [Woodford County].
    • Missouri
      • Callaway County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Garrett [Callaway County].
    • Oklahoma
      • Beaver 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 Oklahoma community of Garrett [Beaver County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • This Garrett is located in Somerset County and lies 496 miles [798.2 km]<1> to the east of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Garrett.
    • Tennessee
      • Decatur County
      • This Garrett is located in Decatur County and lies 289 miles [465.1 km]<1> to the south of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Decatur County community of Garrett.
    • Texas
      • Ellis County
      • This Garrett is located in Ellis County and lies 687 miles [1,105.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellis County community of Garrett.
      • Lamar 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 Texas community of Garrett [Lamar County].
    • Virginia
      • Buckingham 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 Garrett [Buckingham County].
    • Washington
      • Walla Walla County
      • This Garrett is located in Walla Walla County and lies 1,565 miles [2,518.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walla Walla County community of Garrett.
    • Wyoming
      • Albany County
      • This Garrett is located in Albany County and lies 908 miles [1,461.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Garrett that is located in Douglas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albany County community of Garrett.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Garrett ...

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.

  • Arthur
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
    • Arthur is located in Douglas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,192 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur <5>
  • Bourbon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bourbon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourbon
    • Bourbon is located in Douglas County
  • Chicken Bristle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicken Bristle
    • Chicken Bristle is located in Douglas County
  • Ficklin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ficklin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ficklin
    • Ficklin is located in Douglas County
  • Hillcrest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillcrest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
    • Hillcrest is located in Douglas County
  • Jimtown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jimtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
    • Jimtown is located in Champaign County
  • Mackville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mackville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackville
    • Mackville is located in Piatt County
  • Meadowview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowview have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
    • Meadowview is located in Douglas County

How Far From Garrett 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 village such as Garrett to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tuscola, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies just to the East.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Garrett to Springfield, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 610 miles [981.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,313 miles [10,159.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,047 miles [11,341 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,927 miles [7,929.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Garrett. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

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- Garrett) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Garrett. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7969, Longitude: -88.4246       In this case, the coordinates for Garrett have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 Garrett 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>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 Garrett, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Garrett 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 314.945 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.62 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.524 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024