Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Neal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Neal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Neal
- 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 Neal:
- 39.301982, -88.341711
- 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 Neal
- 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 Cumberland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
- Since Neal is near Coles County and also Effingham County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Coles County
- eBird sighting report for Effingham 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 Neal ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Neal.
Within Illinois, the name Neal is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Houston County
- This Neal is located in Houston County and lies 537 miles [864.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Neal that is located in Cumberland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Neal.
- Pike County
- This Neal is located in Pike County and lies 482 miles [775.7 km] to the south southeast of the Neal that is located in Cumberland County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Neal.
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Neal ...
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.
- Green Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Creek
- Green Creek is located in Effingham County
- Greenup
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenup
- Greenup is located in Cumberland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,474 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenup <5>
- Janesville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Janesville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Janesville is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Janesville <5>
- Johnstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Johnstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jones
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north) - Kingman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Lillyville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillyville
- Lillyville is located in Cumberland County
- Magnet
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
- Magnet is located in Coles County
- Paradise
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Rocky Ford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
- Rocky Ford is located in Cumberland County
- Rolling Green
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Green have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
- Rolling Green is located in Coles County
- Timothy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
How Far From Neal 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 Neal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Neal and extending to:
- Toledo, which is the Seat of Cumberland County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Neal 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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 606 miles [975.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,334 miles [10,193.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,066 miles [11,371.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,946 miles [7,959.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Neal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Neal 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Neal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Neal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3020, Longitude: -88.3417 In this case, the coordinates for Neal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Neal, 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 Neal 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 314.881 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.478 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.613 degrees. |