Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pekin, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pekin and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pekin
- 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 Pekin:
- 40.567709, -89.640764
- 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 Pekin
- 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 Tazewell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- Since Pekin is near Peoria County and also Mason County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Peoria County
- eBird sighting report for Mason 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 Pekin ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Pekin.
Within Illinois, the name Pekin is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Craighead County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Pekin [Craighead County].
- Stone County
- This community is historic and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Pekin [Stone County].
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Morgan County
- This Pekin is located in Morgan County and lies 382 miles [614.8 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Pekin.
- Rowan 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 Kentucky community of Pekin [Rowan County].
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- New York
- Niagara County
- This Pekin is located in Niagara County and lies 580 miles [933.4 km]<3> to the east northeast of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Niagara County community of Pekin.
- Oswego County
- This Pekin is located in Oswego County and lies 729 miles [1,173.2 km] to the east northeast of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of Pekin.
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Carroll County
- This Pekin is located in Carroll County and lies 446 miles [717.8 km]<3> to the east of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Pekin.
- Jefferson County
- This Pekin is located in Jefferson County and lies 471 miles [758 km] to the east of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Pekin.
- Medina County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Medina County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Medina County community of Pekin.
- Stark County
- This community is historic and although located in Stark County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stark County community of Pekin.
- Warren County
- This Pekin is located in Warren County and lies 296 miles [476.4 km] to the east southeast of the Pekin that is located in Tazewell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Pekin.
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pekin ...
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.
- Cloverdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Tazewell County
- Crescent
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Crescent is located in Tazewell County
- Farmdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Groveland
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
- Groveland is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groveland <5>
- Highway Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway Village
- Highway Village is located in Tazewell County
- Kickapoo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Maxwell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Orchard Mines
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Mines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Mines
- Orchard Mines is located in Peoria County
How Far From Pekin 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 city such as Pekin to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pekin and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<3> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Pekin to Springfield, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 678 miles [1,091.1 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 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,320 miles [10,171.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,059 miles [11,360.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,943 miles [7,955 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Pekin: www.ci.pekin.il.us/
The official website for Tazewell County: www.tazewell.com/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Pekin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Pekin 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> | 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- Pekin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pekin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5677, Longitude: -89.6408 |
| <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 Pekin 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 315.761 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.662 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.911 degrees. |