Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lena
- 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 Lena:
- 42.379237, -89.822145
- 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 Lena
- 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 Stephenson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Stephenson County
- Since Lena is near Jo Daviess County and also Green County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jo Daviess County
- eBird sighting report for Green 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 Lena ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Lena.
Within Illinois, the name Lena is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twenty communities, nineteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Garland County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Lena [Garland County].
- Saline County
- This Lena is located in Saline County and lies 559 miles [899.6 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Lena that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saline County community of Lena.
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Manitoba
- This Lena lies 665 miles [1,070.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Lena that is located in Stephenson County.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Arthur County
- This Lena is located in Arthur County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<2> to the west of the Lena that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arthur County community of Lena.
- McPherson County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in McPherson County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McPherson County community of Lena.
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Fulton County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Fulton County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Lena.
- Miami County
- This Lena is located in Miami County and lies 337 miles [542.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Lena that is located in Stephenson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami County community of Lena.
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lena ...
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.
- Bolton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Cedarville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 675 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedarville <5>
- Damascus
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Kent
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kent have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in Stephenson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kent <5>
- Martintown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martintown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martintown
- Martintown is located in Green County (WI)
- Orangeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
- Orangeville is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 737 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orangeville <5>
- Pearl City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Pearl City is located in Stephenson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearl City <5>
- Pitcherville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pitcherville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pitcherville
- Pitcherville is located in Jo Daviess County
- Red Oak
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Sunnyside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Willow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Yellow Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Yellow Creek is located in Stephenson County
How Far From Lena to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Lena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Lena and extending to:
- Freeport, which is the Seat of Stephenson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lena to Freeport, with an average speed<6> 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 179 miles [288.1 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 710 miles [1,142.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,237 miles [10,037.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,981 miles [11,234.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,870 miles [7,837.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lena: www.villageoflena.com/
The official website for Stephenson County: www.co.stephenson.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 Lena, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3792, Longitude: -89.8221 |
| <3> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Lena 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. |
| <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 Lena 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 315.903 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.075 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.523 degrees. |