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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Hurst, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Hurst 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 Hurst:
    • 37.834654, -89.144413
    • 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 Hurst
  • 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 Williamson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Williamson County
    • Since Hurst is near Franklin County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Hurst

Communities Also Named Hurst ...

We found nine communities that are also named Hurst.

Within Illinois, the name Hurst is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Fannin County
      • This Hurst is located in Fannin County and lies 344 miles [553.6 km]<1> to the southeast of the Hurst that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fannin County community of Hurst.
    • Kentucky
      • Breathitt County
      • This Hurst is located in Breathitt County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<1> to the east of the Hurst that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Breathitt County community of Hurst.
    • Michigan
      • Presque Isle 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 Hurst [Presque Isle County].
    • Mississippi
      • Amite 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 Mississippi community of Hurst [Amite County].
    • Missouri
      • Texas County
      • This Hurst is located in Texas County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Hurst that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Texas County community of Hurst.
    • Tennessee
      • McNairy 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 Tennessee community of Hurst [McNairy County].
    • Texas
      • Coryell 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 Texas community of Hurst [Coryell County].
      • Tarrant County
      • This Hurst is located in Tarrant County and lies 568 miles [914.1 km]<1> to the southwest of the Hurst that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tarrant County community of Hurst.
    • West Virginia
      • Lewis County
      • This Hurst is located in Lewis County and lies 464 miles [746.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Hurst that is located in Williamson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lewis County community of Hurst.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Hurst ...

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.

  • Bush
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Bush is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
  • Carbondale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Carterville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chittyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Chittyville is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittyville
  • Crainville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Crainville is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crainville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
  • De Soto
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Dowell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Eden Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Eden Park is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Park
  • Elkville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Energy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Energy is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Energy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,086 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Energy <3>
  • Freeman Spur
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Freeman Spur is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Spur
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Freeman Spur has also been known as:
    • Freeman Spur village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeman Spur <3>
  • Lake Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Creek is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Creek
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Mitchell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mitchell is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Paineville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Paineville is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paineville
    • Plumfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Plumfield is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
    • Reeds Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Reeds Station is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Station
    • Sunnyside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunnyside is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside

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

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

  • Marion, which is the Seat of Williamson County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hurst to Marion, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 659 miles [1,060.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,436 miles [10,357.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,166 miles [11,532.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,044 miles [8,117.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Hurst) 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 Hurst 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 Hurst 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 Hurst. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8347, Longitude: -89.1444       In this case, the coordinates for Hurst have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.356 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.821 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.343 degrees.