Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gerald, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gerald and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gerald
- 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 Gerald:
- 40.270591, -87.930033
- 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 Gerald
- 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 Champaign County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- Since Gerald is near Vermilion County and also Ford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Vermilion County
- eBird sighting report for Ford 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 Gerald ...
We found ten communities that share the name Gerald.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Gerald.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Saskatchewan
- This Gerald lies 979 miles [1,575.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Gerald that is located in Champaign County.
- Texas
- Denton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Gerald [Denton County].
- McLennan 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 Texas community of Gerald [McLennan County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gerald ...
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.
- Blue Grass ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Grass have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
- Blue Grass is located in Vermilion County
- Brothers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Dailey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Flatville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatville
- Flatville is located in Champaign County
- Glover
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Gray Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Hope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Jamesburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Royal
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Royal is located in Champaign County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Royal <5>
- Sellers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Gerald 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 community such as Gerald to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Gerald and extending to:
- Urbana, which is the Seat of Champaign County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Gerald to Urbana, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 97 miles [156.1 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 587 miles [944.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,271 miles [10,092.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,006 miles [11,275.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,886 miles [7,863.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gerald. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Champaign County: www.co.champaign.il.us/
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 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 Gerald 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Gerald) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gerald. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2706, Longitude: -87.9300 In this case, the coordinates for Gerald have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Gerald, 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 Gerald 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 314.628 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.324 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.163 degrees. |