Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Harvard, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Harvard and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Harvard
- 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 Harvard:
- 42.426769, -88.622854
- 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 Harvard
- 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 McHenry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- Since Harvard is near Walworth County and also Boone County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Walworth County
- eBird sighting report for Boone 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 Harvard ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Harvard.
Within Illinois, the name Harvard is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Gilchrist County
- This Harvard is located in Gilchrist County and lies 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Harvard that is located in McHenry County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gilchrist County community of Harvard.
- Marion 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 Florida community of Harvard [Marion County].
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Nebraska
- New York
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Harvard ...
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.
- Big Foot Prairie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Foot Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Foot Prairie
- Big Foot Prairie is located in McHenry County
- Blaine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Garden Prairie
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Prairie
- Garden Prairie is located in Boone County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 352 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden Prairie <4>
- Greenwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Hartland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Hebron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hebron is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,175 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebron <4>
- Hunter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Indian Trails
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Trails have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trails
- Indian Trails is located in McHenry County
- Inlet
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Lake Lawn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Poplar Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Boone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,075 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplar Grove <4>
- Shady Side ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Side have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Side
- Shady Side is located in Walworth County (WI)
- Sunrise Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Ridge
- Sunrise Ridge is located in McHenry County
- Union
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <4>
- Wonder Lake
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wonder Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonder Lake
- Wonder Lake is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,837 people
- Wonder Lake has also been known as:
- Wonder Lake village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wonder Lake <4>
- Lake Lawn
How Far From Harvard 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 Harvard to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Harvard and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Harvard to Woodstock, with an average speed<5> 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 190 miles [305.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 653 miles [1,050.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,191 miles [9,963.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,934 miles [11,159.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,820 miles [7,757 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Harvard: www.cityofharvard.org/
The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/
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 from Point A (ie- Harvard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harvard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4268, Longitude: -88.6229 In this case, the coordinates for Harvard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Harvard 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> | 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Harvard 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 315.094 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.159 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.903 degrees. |