RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Cook County >> Pacific Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pacific Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pacific Junction and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Pacific Junction:
    • 41.913529, -87.722071
    • 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 Pacific Junction
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Pacific Junction is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Pacific Junction

Communities Also Named Pacific Junction ...

We found five communities that are also named Pacific Junction.

Within Illinois, the name Pacific Junction is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Mills County
      • This Pacific Junction is located in Mills County and lies 422 miles [679.1 km]<1> to the west of the Pacific Junction that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mills County community of Pacific Junction.
    • Montana
      • Chouteau 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 Montana community of Pacific Junction [Chouteau County].
      • Hill County
      • This Pacific Junction is located in Hill County and lies 1,160 miles [1,866.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Pacific Junction that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hill County community of Pacific Junction.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Pacific Junction lies 1,161 miles [1,868.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Pacific Junction that is located in Cook County.
    • Oklahoma
      • Canadian 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 Oklahoma community of Pacific Junction [Canadian County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pacific Junction ...

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.

  • Bricktown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bricktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
  • California Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • California Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Park
  • Cedar Lawn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Fifty Acres
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fifty Acres is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifty Acres
  • Galewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Galewood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galewood
  • Gold Coast
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Gold Coast is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Coast
  • Grayland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Grayland is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayland
  • Humboldt
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Humboldt is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
  • Humboldt Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
  • Lincoln Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Square ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Square
  • Little Hell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Little Hell is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Hell
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Little Sicily
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Little Sicily is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sicily
    • Maplewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Maplewood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Maplewood Courts
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Maplewood Courts is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Courts
    • Martin Luther
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Martin Luther is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Luther
    • Portage Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Portage Park is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage Park
    • Ravenswood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ravenswood is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
    • Ravenswood Gardens
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Ravenswood Gardens is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Gardens
    • Ravenswood Place
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ravenswood Place is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Place
    • Six Corners
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Six Corners is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Corners
    • Sunnyside
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunnyside is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Swede Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Swede Town is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swede Town
    • Swedentown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Swedentown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedentown
    • Towertown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Towertown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towertown
    • Whiskey Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point

How Far From Pacific Junction 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 Pacific Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Pacific Junction to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 598 miles [962.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,184 miles [9,952.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,807 miles [7,736.1 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pacific Junction) 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Pacific Junction 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 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 Pacific Junction 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 Pacific Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9135, Longitude: -87.7221       In this case, the coordinates for Pacific Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.495 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.404 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.601 degrees.