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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Rue, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Rue 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 La Rue:
    • 37.545605, -89.453706
    • 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 Rue
  • 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
    • Since La Rue is near Cape Girardeau County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cape Girardeau 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 La Rue

Communities Also Named La Rue ...

We found one communities that are also named La Rue.

Within Illinois, the name La Rue is unique.

Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named La Rue in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Marion County
      • This La Rue is located in Marion County and lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the La Rue that is located in Union County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of La Rue.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Rue ...

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.

  • Egypt Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Egypt Mills is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Mills
  • Grand Tower
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lovejoy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lovejoy is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovejoy
  • Moccasin Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Moccasin Springs is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moccasin Springs
  • Mountain Glen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Mountain Glen is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Glen
  • Oriole
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Oriole is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
  • Pocahontas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Pocahontas is located in Cape Girardeau County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocahontas <2>
  • Pottsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Pottsville is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
  • Union Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Union Point is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Point
  • Wolf Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Jonesboro, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from La Rue to Jonesboro, with an average speed<3> 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 154 miles [247.8 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 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 679 miles [1,092.7 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,462 miles [10,399.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,192 miles [11,574.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,070 miles [8,159.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- La Rue) 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 Rue 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 Rue. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5456, Longitude: -89.4537       In this case, the coordinates for La Rue have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.543 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.997 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.55 degrees.