RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Adams County >> La Prairie >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 La Prairie:
    • 40.147730, -91.002103
    • 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 La Prairie
  • 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 Adams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Since La Prairie is near Hancock County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock 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 La Prairie

Communities Also Named La Prairie ...

We found three communities that are also named La Prairie.

Within Illinois, the name La Prairie is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, one is located in the United States and the other five communities are located in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Minnesota
      • Itasca County
      • This La Prairie is located in Itasca County and lies 504 miles [811.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the La Prairie that is located in Adams County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Itasca County community of La Prairie.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This La Prairie lies 1,561 miles [2,512.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the La Prairie that is located in Adams County.
    • Quebec
      • This La Prairie lies 1,120 miles [1,802.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the La Prairie that is located in Adams County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Prairie ...

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.

  • Chili
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Coatsburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Columbus
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Columbus is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
  • Erwin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Erwin is located in Schuyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwin
  • Fargo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fargo is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargo
  • Golden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Huntsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Middle Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Middle Creek is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
  • Mound Station
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Plymouth
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Quincy, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from La Prairie to Quincy, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 75 miles [120.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 748 miles [1,203.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,390 miles [10,283.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,131 miles [11,476.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,016 miles [8,072.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- La Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 La Prairie 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 La Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1477, Longitude: -91.0021    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.658 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.635 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.68 degrees.