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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Havana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Havana and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Havana:
    • 40.297859, -90.060786
    • 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 Havana
  • 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
    • Since Havana is near Fulton County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Schuyler 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 Havana

Communities Also Named Havana ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Havana.

Within Illinois, the name Havana is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of fifteen communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Hale County
      • This Havana is located in Hale County and lies 528 miles [849.7 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hale County community of Havana.
    • Arkansas
      • Yell County
      • This Havana is located in Yell County and lies 405 miles [651.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yell County community of Havana.
    • Florida
      • Gadsden County
      • This Havana is located in Gadsden County and lies 739 miles [1,189.3 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gadsden County community of Havana.
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Havana is located in Hillsborough County and lies 955 miles [1,536.9 km] to the south southeast of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Havana.
    • Kansas
      • Montgomery County
      • This Havana is located in Montgomery County and lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Havana.
    • Michigan
      • Kalkaska 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 Michigan community of Havana [Kalkaska County].
      • Saginaw County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Havana [Saginaw County].
    • Minnesota
      • Steele County
      • This Havana is located in Steele County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steele County community of Havana.
    • Missouri
      • Gentry County
      • Although located in Gentry County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gentry County community of Havana.
    • North Dakota
      • Sargent County
      • This Havana is located in Sargent County and lies 544 miles [875.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sargent County community of Havana.
    • Ohio
      • Huron County
      • This Havana is located in Huron County and lies 387 miles [622.8 km]<1> to the east of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Huron County community of Havana.
    • Oregon
      • Umatilla County
      • This Havana is located in Umatilla County and lies 1,482 miles [2,385 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Umatilla County community of Havana.
    • Tennessee
      • Hardin County
      • This Havana is located in Hardin County and lies 356 miles [572.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Havana.
    • Texas
      • Hidalgo County
      • This Havana is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,084 miles [1,744.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Havana.
    • West Virginia
      • Boone County
      • This Havana is located in Boone County and lies 466 miles [750 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Havana that is located in Mason County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boone County community of Havana.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Havana ...

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.

  • Bath
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Buzzville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lewistown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Little America
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Little America is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little America
  • Liverpool
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Long Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Marbletown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Otto ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Otto is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otto
  • Peterville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Peterville is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterville
  • Poplar City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Quiver Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Quiver Beach is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiver Beach

How Far From Havana 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 city such as Havana to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Havana and extending to:

  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 41 miles [66 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Havana to Springfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 699 miles [1,124.9 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 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,349 miles [10,217.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,088 miles [11,407 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- Havana) 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 Havana 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Havana 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 Havana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2979, Longitude: -90.0608    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.034 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.939 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.184 degrees.