Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Jacob, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jacob and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Jacob
- 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 Jacob:
- 37.745670, -89.536055
- 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 Jacob
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Jacob is near Perry County and also Randolph County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Perry County
- eBird sighting report for Randolph 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 Jacob ...
We found two communities that share the name Jacob.
Within Illinois, the name Jacob is unique.
Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Jacob in the United States.
In addition to the above occurrences of Jacob, we know of another community located outside of the United States and Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Communities Beyond North America ...
- Colombia
- Distance: 1,755 miles [2,824.4 km]<2> to the south southeast
- Colombia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Jacob ...
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.
- Crosstown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Dry Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Glenn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Grand Tower
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Tower
- Grand Tower is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 560 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Tower <4>
- Jones Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Ridge
- Jones Ridge is located in Jackson County
- Point Rest
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Rest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rest
- Point Rest is located in Perry County (MO)
- Poplar Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Ridge
- Poplar Ridge is located in Jackson County
- Rockwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Rockwood is located in Randolph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockwood <4>
- Sand Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
- Sand Ridge is located in Jackson County
- Seventysix
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seventysix have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seventysix
- Seventysix is located in Perry County (MO)
- Starland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Jacob 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 Jacob to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Jacob and extending to:
- Murphysboro, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Jacob to Murphysboro, 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 140 miles [225.3 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 681 miles [1,096 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,455 miles [10,388.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,186 miles [11,564.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,064 miles [8,149.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Jacob. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jackson County: www.co.jackson.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Jacob, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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- Jacob) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Jacob. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7457, Longitude: -89.5361 |
| <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 Jacob 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 315.605 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.096 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.543 degrees. |