RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Sangamon County >> Pleasant Plains >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pleasant Plains, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pleasant Plains 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 Pleasant Plains:
    • 39.874109, -89.920206
    • 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 Pleasant Plains
  • 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 Sangamon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
    • Since Pleasant Plains is near Cass County and also Menard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Menard 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 Pleasant Plains

Communities Also Named Pleasant Plains ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Pleasant Plains.

Within Illinois, the name Pleasant Plains is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Henry 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 Alabama community of Pleasant Plains [Henry County].
      • Houston County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Houston County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Pleasant Plains.
    • Arkansas
      • Independence County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Independence County and lies 312 miles [502.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Independence County community of Pleasant Plains.
    • Kansas
      • Republic 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 Kansas community of Pleasant Plains [Republic County].
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 720 miles [1,158.7 km]<2> to the east of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Pleasant Plains.
    • New Jersey
      • Middlesex County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Middlesex County and lies 810 miles [1,303.6 km]<2> to the east of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Pleasant Plains.
      • Morris County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Morris County and lies 813 miles [1,308.4 km] to the east of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morris County community of Pleasant Plains.
      • Ocean County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Ocean County and lies 830 miles [1,335.8 km] to the east of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ocean County community of Pleasant Plains.
    • New York
      • Dutchess County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Dutchess County and lies 848 miles [1,364.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dutchess County community of Pleasant Plains.
      • Richmond County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Richmond County and lies 828 miles [1,332.5 km] to the east of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richmond County community of Pleasant Plains.
    • North Carolina
      • Columbus County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Columbus County and lies 730 miles [1,174.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbus County community of Pleasant Plains.
      • Hertford County
      • This Pleasant Plains is located in Hertford County and lies 743 miles [1,195.7 km] to the east southeast of the Pleasant Plains that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hertford County community of Pleasant Plains.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pleasant Plains ...

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.

  • Archer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Archer is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
  • Berlin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Berlin is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
  • Claysville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Claysville is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
  • Gurney ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gurney is located in Cass County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurney
  • Hill Top
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hill Top is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
  • Hilltop
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hilltop is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Island Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Island Grove is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Grove
  • Jordanville ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jordanville is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordanville
  • Lewisburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewisburg is located in Menard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Riddle Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Riddle Hill is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle Hill
  • Salisbury
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Salisbury is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury

How Far From Pleasant Plains 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 village such as Pleasant Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Sangamon County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Pleasant Plains to Springfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 15 miles [24.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 690 miles [1,110.4 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 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,364 miles [10,241.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,102 miles [11,429.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,985 miles [8,022.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Pleasant Plains 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 '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- Pleasant Plains) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Pleasant Plains 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 Pleasant Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8741, Longitude: -89.9202       In this case, the coordinates for Pleasant Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.93 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.761 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.22 degrees.