Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orient, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orient and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orient
- 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 Orient:
- 37.917572, -88.977321
- 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 Orient
- 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 Franklin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Franklin County
- Since Orient is near Williamson County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Williamson County
- eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Orient ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Orient.
Within Illinois, the name Orient is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Iowa
- Maine
- Michigan
- New York
- Ohio
- Ontario
- This Orient lies 882 miles [1,419.4 km]<2> to the northeast of the Orient that is located in Franklin County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Nolan County
- This Orient is located in Nolan County and lies 744 miles [1,197.4 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Orient that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nolan County community of Orient.
- Stonewall County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Stonewall County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stonewall County community of Orient.
- Tom Green County
- This Orient is located in Tom Green County and lies 774 miles [1,245.6 km] to the west southwest of the Orient that is located in Franklin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tom Green County community of Orient.
- Wichita County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Orient [Wichita County].
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orient ...
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.
- Chittyville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chittyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chittyville
- Chittyville is located in Williamson County
- Christopher
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christopher have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christopher
- Christopher is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,686 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Christopher <5>
- Freeman Spur
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Spur
- Freeman Spur is located in Williamson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
- Freeman Spur has also been known as:
- Freeman Spur village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeman Spur <5>
- Hickory Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corners
- Hickory Corners is located in Franklin County
- Jenkins
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Lake Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Creek
- Lake Creek is located in Franklin County
- Mitchell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Paineville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paineville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paineville
- Paineville is located in Williamson County
- Plumfield
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumfield
- Plumfield is located in Franklin County
- Shakerag
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Smothersville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smothersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smothersville
- Smothersville is located in Franklin County
- Steel City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steel City
- Steel City is located in Franklin County
How Far From Orient 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 city such as Orient to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orient and extending to:
- Benton, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 133 miles [214 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Orient to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 649 miles [1,044.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,426 miles [10,341.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,156 miles [11,516.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,033 miles [8,099.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orient. 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 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 Orient 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Orient) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orient. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9176, Longitude: -88.9773 In this case, the coordinates for Orient 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 Orient, 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 Orient 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 315.251 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.712 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.247 degrees. |