RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Menard County >> Oakford >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oakford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakford 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 Oakford:
    • 40.102883, -89.965253
    • 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 Oakford
  • 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 Menard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Menard County
    • Since Oakford is near Mason County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Oakford

Communities Also Named Oakford ...

We found three communities that are also named Oakford.

Within Illinois, the name Oakford is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Oakford is located in Hillsborough County and lies 941 miles [1,514.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Oakford that is located in Menard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Oakford.
    • Indiana
      • Howard County
      • This Oakford is located in Howard County and lies 204 miles [328.3 km]<1> to the east of the Oakford that is located in Menard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Oakford.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Bucks County
      • This Oakford is located in Bucks County and lies 791 miles [1,273 km]<1> to the east of the Oakford that is located in Menard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bucks County community of Oakford.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakford ...

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.

  • Bath
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bobtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bobtown is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobtown
  • Chandlerville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Greenview
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Hill Top
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hill Top is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
  • Hilltop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hilltop is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Lewisburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lewisburg is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Long Branch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Moscow ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Moscow is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
  • Peterville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Peterville is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterville
  • Poplar City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Wolf Lake
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Wolf Lake is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Lake

How Far From Oakford to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Oakford to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Petersburg, which is the Seat of Menard County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Oakford to Springfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 693 miles [1,115.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,355 miles [10,227.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,093 miles [11,415.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,976 miles [8,008.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oakford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Oakford 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 Oakford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1029, Longitude: -89.9653    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.966 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.834 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.186 degrees.