Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Irwin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Irwin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Irwin
- 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 Irwin:
- 41.052873, -87.984623
- 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 Irwin
- 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 Kankakee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kankakee County
- Since Irwin is near Iroquois County and also Ford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Iroquois County
- eBird sighting report for Ford 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 Irwin ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Irwin.
Within Illinois, the name Irwin is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio
- Belmont County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Irwin [Belmont County].
- Union County
- This Irwin is located in Union County and lies 244 miles [392.7 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Irwin that is located in Kankakee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Irwin.
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Irwin ...
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.
- Aroma Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aroma Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aroma Park
- Aroma Park is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 678 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aroma Park <5>
- Dickeys
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Greenwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Limestone
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Otto
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otto
- Otto is located in Kankakee County
- Pilot Center ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilot Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Center
- Pilot Center is located in Kankakee County
- Sugar Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Island have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Island
- Sugar Island is located in Kankakee County
- Union Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union Hill <5>
How Far From Irwin 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 village such as Irwin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Irwin and extending to:
- Kankakee, which is the Seat of Kankakee County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Irwin to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 597 miles [960.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,235 miles [10,034.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,972 miles [11,220.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,854 miles [7,811.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Irwin. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Kankakee County: www.co.kankakee.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Irwin 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Irwin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Irwin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0529, Longitude: -87.9846 In this case, the coordinates for Irwin have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Irwin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Irwin to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.669 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.481 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.974 degrees. |