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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Old Gilchrist, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Gilchrist 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 Old Gilchrist:
- 41.231146, -90.625136
- 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 Old Gilchrist
- 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Since Old Gilchrist is near Rock Island County and also Henry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Rock Island County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Henry 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 Old Gilchrist
Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Gilchrist ...
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.
- Cable
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cable is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
- Griffin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Griffin is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Hamlet
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hamlet is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Martin ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Martin is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
- Preemption
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Shale City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Shale City is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale City
- Sugar Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sugar Grove is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sunbeam
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Sunbeam is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunbeam
How Far From Old Gilchrist 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 Old Gilchrist to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Old Gilchrist and extending to:
- Aledo, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 112 miles [180.2 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Old Gilchrist to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 735 miles [1,182.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,322 miles [10,174.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,065 miles [11,370 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,952 miles [7,969.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Old Gilchrist) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Old Gilchrist 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 Old Gilchrist. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2311, Longitude: -90.6251 In this case, the coordinates for Old Gilchrist have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.432 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.523 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.229 degrees. |
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