Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oak, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oak and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oak
- 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 Oak:
- 37.568921, -88.514478
- 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 Oak
- 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 Pope County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pope County
- Since Oak is near Saline County and also Hardin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saline County
- eBird sighting report for Hardin 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 Oak ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Oak.
Within Illinois, the name Oak is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, sixteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Jefferson County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Jefferson County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Oak.
- Seward County
- This community is historic and although located in Seward County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Seward County community of Oak.
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Brunswick
- This Oak lies 1,217 miles [1,958.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Oak that is located in Pope County.
- Ohio
- Highland County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Highland County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highland County community of Oak.
- Monroe County
- This Oak is located in Monroe County and lies 434 miles [698.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Oak that is located in Pope County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Oak.
- Oregon
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak ...
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.
- Derby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Dorrisville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dorrisville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorrisville
- Dorrisville is located in Saline County
- Eagle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Garden Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Heights
- Garden Heights is located in Saline County
- Hartsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsville
- Hartsville is located in Pope County
- Hicks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Humm Wye
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Leisure City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leisure City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure City
- Leisure City is located in Pope County
- Rose Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Saline Valley Store ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saline Valley Store have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saline Valley Store
- Saline Valley Store is located in Saline County
How Far From Oak 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 Oak to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oak and extending to:
- Golconda, which is the Seat of Pope County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Oak to Golconda, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 164 miles [263.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 628 miles [1,010.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,425 miles [10,340 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,153 miles [11,511.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,029 miles [8,093.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oak. 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oak) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5689, Longitude: -88.5145 In this case, the coordinates for Oak have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Oak, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Oak 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Oak to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.941 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.306 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.118 degrees. |