RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Fayette County >> Greenland >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Greenland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Greenland 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 Greenland:
    • 39.179765, -88.819507
    • 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 Greenland
  • 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Since Greenland is near Effingham County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Effingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Greenland

Communities Also Named Greenland ...

We found eighteen communities that are also named Greenland.

Within Illinois, the name Greenland is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of eighteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Washington County
      • This Greenland is located in Washington County and lies 366 miles [589 km]<1> to the southwest of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Greenland.
    • Colorado
      • Douglas County
      • This Greenland is located in Douglas County and lies 857 miles [1,379.2 km]<1> to the west of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Greenland.
    • Florida
      • Duval County
      • This Greenland is located in Duval County and lies 746 miles [1,200.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of Greenland.
    • Manitoba
      • This Greenland lies 819 miles [1,318.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
    • Maryland
      • Wicomico County
      • This Greenland is located in Wicomico County and lies 718 miles [1,155.5 km]<1> to the east of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wicomico County community of Greenland.
    • Michigan
      • Ontonagon County
      • This Greenland is located in Ontonagon County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<1> to the north of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontonagon County community of Greenland.
    • Minnesota
      • Le Sueur County
      • This Greenland is located in Le Sueur County and lies 429 miles [690.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Le Sueur County community of Greenland.
    • Mississippi
      • Newton County
      • This Greenland is located in Newton County and lies 457 miles [735.5 km]<1> to the south of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Newton County community of Greenland.
    • New Hampshire
      • Rockingham County
      • This Greenland is located in Rockingham County and lies 970 miles [1,561.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Greenland.
    • New Jersey
      • Camden County
      • This Greenland is located in Camden County and lies 735 miles [1,182.9 km]<1> to the east of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Greenland.
    • Newfoundland and Labrador
      • 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 Newfoundland and Labrador community of Greenland.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Greenland lies 1,246 miles [2,005.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
    • Ohio
      • Ross County
      • This Greenland is located in Ross County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<1> to the east of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ross County community of Greenland.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster County
      • This Greenland is located in Lancaster County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<1> to the east of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Greenland.
    • South Carolina
      • Barnwell 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 South Carolina community of Greenland [Barnwell County].
    • Tennessee
      • Hawkins County
      • This Greenland is located in Hawkins County and lies 376 miles [605.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hawkins County community of Greenland.
    • West Virginia
      • Grant County
      • This Greenland is located in Grant County and lies 517 miles [832 km]<1> to the east of the Greenland that is located in Fayette County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Greenland.
      • Wood 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 West Virginia community of Greenland [Wood County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Greenland ...

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.

  • Funkhouser
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Funkhouser is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funkhouser
  • Holland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Holland is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
  • Holliday
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Holliday is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holliday
  • Howards Point ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Howards Point is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Point
  • Magnolia Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia Corner is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Corner
  • Moccasin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Moccasin is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moccasin
  • Mode
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mode is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mode
  • Post Oak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Post Oak is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak
  • Twin Churches
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Twin Churches is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Churches

How Far From Greenland 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 community such as Greenland to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Greenland once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Greenland and extending to:

  • Vandalia, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Greenland to Vandalia, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 60 miles [96.6 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 631 miles [1,015.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,358 miles [10,232.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,091 miles [11,411.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,971 miles [8,000 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Greenland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Greenland 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 Greenland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Greenland 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 Greenland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1798, Longitude: -88.8195       In this case, the coordinates for Greenland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.189 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.814 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.868 degrees.