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The Commemorative
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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 Gibson City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gibson City 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 Gibson City:
    • 40.464999, -88.375292
    • 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 Gibson City
  • 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 Gibson City ...

We found one communities that share the name Gibson City.

Within Illinois, the name Gibson City is unique.

Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Gibson City in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Idaho
      • Shoshone 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 Idaho community of Gibson City [Shoshone County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gibson City ...

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.

  • Anchor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Arrowsmith
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrowsmith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowsmith
    • Arrowsmith is located in McLean County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrowsmith <2>
  • Derby
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Derby is located in Ford County
  • Dewey
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dewey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
    • Dewey is located in Champaign County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dewey <2>
  • Fisher
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Fisher is located in Champaign County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,911 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fisher <2>
  • Harpster
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harpster have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpster
    • Harpster is located in Ford County
  • Lotus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Melvin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
    • Melvin is located in Ford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melvin <2>
  • Prospect
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Risk
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Risk have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risk
    • Risk is located in Livingston County

How Far From Gibson City 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 Gibson City to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Gibson City and extending to:

  • Paxton, which is the Seat of Ford County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Gibson City to Paxton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 82 miles [132 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 611 miles [983.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,014 miles [11,287.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,896 miles [7,879.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

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

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 Gibson City 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- Gibson City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gibson City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4650, Longitude: -88.3753    
<5>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.
<6>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 Gibson City to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.922 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.687 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.324 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025