Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Girard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Girard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Girard
- 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 Girard:
- 39.446340, -89.780565
- 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 Girard
- 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 Macoupin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Macoupin County
- Since Girard is near Sangamon County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Girard ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Girard.
Within Illinois, the name Girard is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Crawford County
- This Girard is located in Crawford County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Girard that is located in Macoupin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Girard.
- Meade County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Girard [Meade County].
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Erie County
- This Girard is located in Erie County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Girard that is located in Macoupin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Girard.
- York County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Girard [York County].
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Girard ...
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.
- Centerville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Morgan County
- Farmersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmersville
- Farmersville is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 662 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmersville <5>
- Glenarm
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenarm
- Glenarm is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenarm <5>
- Greenridge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
- Greenridge is located in Macoupin County
- Honey Bend
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Bend
- Honey Bend is located in Montgomery County
- Irwins Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwins Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwins Park
- Irwins Park is located in Sangamon County
- Lemmon ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Maxwell ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Raymond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
- Raymond is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 927 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raymond <5>
- Shop Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shop Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shop Creek
- Shop Creek is located in Montgomery County
- Standard City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard City
- Standard City is located in Macoupin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
- Tower Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
- Tower Heights is located in Sangamon County
How Far From Girard 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 city such as Girard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Girard and extending to:
- Carlinville, which is the Seat of Macoupin County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Girard to Carlinville, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 24 miles [38.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 682 miles [1,097.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,381 miles [10,269.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,117 miles [11,453.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,998 miles [8,043.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Girard. 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Girard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Girard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4463, Longitude: -89.7806 |
| <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 Girard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Girard 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. |
| <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 Girard 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 315.826 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.583 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.258 degrees. |