RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Maplewood Courts >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Maplewood Courts, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Maplewood Courts 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 Maplewood Courts:
    • 41.876699, -87.690610
    • 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 Maplewood Courts
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Maplewood Courts is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Maplewood Courts

Curious and Interesting Names Near Maplewood Courts ...

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.

  • Back of the Yards
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Back of the Yards is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Back of the Yards
  • Bricktown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Bricktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
  • Bronzeville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bronzeville is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronzeville
  • Chinatown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chinatown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • Clyde
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Clyde is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
  • Ducktown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ducktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ducktown
  • Fifty Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fifty Acres is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifty Acres
  • Film Row
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Film Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Film Row
  • Gold Coast
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gold Coast is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Coast
  • Harbor Square
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Harbor Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Square
  • Humboldt
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Humboldt is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
  • Humboldt Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Lake Meadows
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Meadows is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Meadows
    • Lincoln Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
    • Little Hell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Little Hell is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Hell
    • Little Sicily
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Little Sicily is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sicily
    • Locks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Locks is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks
    • Maplewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Maplewood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Mount Pleasant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • New Patch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • New Patch is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Patch
    • Park Row
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Park Row is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Row
    • Prairie Courts
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Prairie Courts is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Courts
    • Prairie Shores
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Prairie Shores is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Shores
    • Shantytown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Shantytown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shantytown
    • Streeterville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Streeterville is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Streeterville
    • Swede Town
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Swede Town is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swede Town
    • Towertown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Towertown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towertown
    • Whiskey Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point
    • Whiskey Row
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Whiskey Row is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Row

How Far From Maplewood Courts 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 Maplewood Courts to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Maplewood Courts and extending to:

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the East.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Maplewood Courts to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 596 miles [959.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,807 miles [7,736.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Maplewood Courts) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Maplewood Courts 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 Maplewood Courts. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8767, Longitude: -87.6906       In this case, the coordinates for Maplewood Courts have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.474 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.375 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.596 degrees.