RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Calhoun County >> Golden Eagle >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Golden Eagle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Golden Eagle 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 Golden Eagle:
    • 38.893901, -90.579395
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Golden Eagle
  • 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
    • Since Golden Eagle is near Saint Charles County and also Jersey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jersey 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Golden Eagle

Curious and Interesting Names Near Golden Eagle ...

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.

  • All Saints Village
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • All Saints Village is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for All Saints Village
  • Black Walnut
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Black Walnut is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Walnut
  • Centerville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Centerville is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
  • Deer Plain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Earth City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Elm Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Elm Point is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Point
  • Harvester
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Kampville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kampville is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampville
  • Marshall Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Marshall Landing is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Landing
  • Maryknoll
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Maryknoll is located in Lincoln County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryknoll
  • Orchard Farm
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Orchard Farm is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Farm
  • Rosedale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Rosedale is located in Jersey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Seeburger
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Seeburger is located in Saint Charles County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seeburger

How Far From Golden Eagle to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Golden Eagle to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Golden Eagle and extending to:

  • Hardin, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Golden Eagle to Hardin, with an average speed<3> 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 78 miles [125.5 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 727 miles [1,170 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,438 miles [10,361 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,174 miles [11,545.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,055 miles [8,135.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Golden Eagle) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Golden Eagle to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Golden Eagle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8939, Longitude: -90.5794    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.334 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.091 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.768 degrees.