Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Petrolia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petrolia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Petrolia
- 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 Petrolia:
- 38.760603, -87.778918
- 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 Petrolia
- 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 Lawrence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- Since Petrolia is near Crawford County and also Richland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Crawford County
- eBird sighting report for Richland 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 Petrolia ...
We found seven communities that share the name Petrolia.
Within Illinois, the name Petrolia is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seven communities, six are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Kansas
- Montana
- New York
- Ontario
- This Petrolia lies 409 miles [658.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Petrolia that is located in Lawrence County.
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Petrolia ...
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.
- Birds
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birds
- Birds is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Birds <3>
- Charlottsville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charlottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlottsville
- Charlottsville is located in Lawrence County
- Davy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Flat Rock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Flat Rock is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flat Rock <3>
- Grays Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grays Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Corner
- Grays Corner is located in Lawrence County
- Helena
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Oil Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil Grove
- Oil Grove is located in Crawford County
- Pinkstaff
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Riddleville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riddleville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddleville
- Riddleville is located in Crawford County
- Sand Barrens
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Barrens have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Barrens
- Sand Barrens is located in Lawrence County
- Stringtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Richland County
How Far From Petrolia 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 Petrolia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Petrolia and extending to:
- Lawrenceville, which is the Seat of Lawrence County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 122 miles [196.3 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Petrolia to Springfield, with an average speed<5>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 577 miles [928.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,338 miles [10,200 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,068 miles [11,374.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,946 miles [7,959.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Petrolia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Petrolia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Petrolia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7606, Longitude: -87.7789 In this case, the coordinates for Petrolia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Petrolia 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> | 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Petrolia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.505 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.971 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.489 degrees. |