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The Commemorative Quarter for Illinois







Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mays, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mays 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 Mays:
    • 39.628924, -87.792251
    • 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 Mays
  • 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 Mays ...

We found five communities that share the name Mays.

Within Illinois, the name Mays is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Etowah County
      • This Mays is located in Etowah County and lies 392 miles [630.9 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Mays that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Etowah County community of Mays.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Mays is located in Hillsborough County and lies 878 miles [1,413 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Mays that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Mays.
    • Indiana
      • Rush County
      • This Mays is located in Rush County and lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<1> to the east of the Mays that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rush County community of Mays.
    • South Dakota
      • Custer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Mays [Custer County].
    • Washington
      • Lewis County
      • This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Mays [Lewis County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mays ...

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.

  • Castle Fin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Fin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Fin
    • Castle Fin is located in Clark County
  • Catfish ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catfish have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
    • Catfish is located in Edgar County
  • Edgar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgar have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
    • Edgar is located in Edgar County
  • Grandview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Grandview is located in Edgar County
  • Harris
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Harris is located in Edgar County
  • Hughes
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Hughes is located in Edgar County
  • Kansas
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kansas have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
    • Kansas is located in Edgar County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 707 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas <5>
  • Kentucky
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentucky have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky
    • Kentucky is located in Edgar County
  • Kings
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings
    • Kings is located in Coles County
  • Oliver
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oliver have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliver
    • Oliver is located in Edgar County
  • Paris
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paris have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
    • Paris is located in Edgar County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,144 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paris <5>

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

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

  • Paris, which is the Seat of Edgar County, lies just to the East.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Mays to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 576 miles [927 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,297 miles [10,134 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,030 miles [11,313.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,909 miles [7,900.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mays. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mays) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mays. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6289, Longitude: -87.7923       In this case, the coordinates for Mays have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Mays 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.
<3>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 Mays, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Mays 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 314.53 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.121 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.269 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024