|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ontario, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ontario 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 Ontario:
- 41.078648, -90.307626
- 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 Ontario
- 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 Knox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
- Since Ontario is near Henry County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Ontario
Communities Also Named Ontario ...
We found thirteen communities that are also named Ontario.
Within Illinois, the name Ontario is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- San Bernardino County
- This Ontario is located in San Bernardino County and lies 1,565 miles [2,518.6 km]<1> to the west of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Ontario.
- Indiana
- LaGrange County
- This Ontario is located in LaGrange County and lies 258 miles [415.2 km]<1> to the east of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the LaGrange County community of Ontario.
- Iowa
- Story County
- This Ontario is located in Story County and lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Story County community of Ontario.
- Kansas
- Jackson County
- This Ontario is located in Jackson County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Ontario.
- Michigan
- Lenawee 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 Michigan community of Ontario [Lenawee County].
- New York
- Wayne County
- This Ontario is located in Wayne County and lies 682 miles [1,097.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Ontario.
- Ohio
- Richland County
- This Ontario is located in Richland County and lies 401 miles [645.3 km]<1> to the east of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Ontario.
- Oklahoma
- Ottawa County
- This Ontario is located in Ottawa County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ottawa County community of Ontario.
- Oregon
- Malheur County
- This Ontario is located in Malheur County and lies 1,365 miles [2,196.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Malheur County community of Ontario.
- Pennsylvania
- Washington County
- This Ontario is located in Washington County and lies 540 miles [869 km]<1> to the east of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Ontario.
- Utah
- Salt Lake County
- This Ontario is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,124 miles [1,808.9 km]<1> to the west of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Ontario.
- Virginia
- Charlotte County
- This Ontario is located in Charlotte County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charlotte County community of Ontario.
- Wisconsin
- Vernon County
- This Ontario is located in Vernon County and lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<1> to the north of the Ontario that is located in Knox County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vernon County community of Ontario.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ontario ...
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.
- Alexis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Alpha
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Centerville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Centerville is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Coldbrook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Coldbrook is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
- Galesburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Griffin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Griffin is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Lynn Center
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Oak Run
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Run is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Run
- Shanghai City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Shanghai City is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
- Utah
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Utah is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utah
How Far From Ontario to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ontario to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ontario and extending to:
- Galesburg, which is the Seat of Knox County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ontario to Galesburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 95 miles [152.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 717 miles [1,153.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,319 miles [10,169.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,060 miles [11,362 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,947 miles [7,961.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ontario) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Ontario 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Ontario 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 Ontario. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0786, Longitude: -90.3076 In this case, the coordinates for Ontario have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.216 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.254 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.109 degrees. |
|
|