Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pontiac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pontiac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pontiac
- 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 Pontiac:
- 38.587272, -89.984826
- 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 Pontiac
- 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 Saint Clair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- Since Pontiac is near Madison County and also Saint Louis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Louis 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 Pontiac ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Pontiac.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Pontiac.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another thirteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Boone 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 Indiana community of Pontiac [Boone County].
- Clay County
- This Pontiac is located in Clay County and lies 168 miles [270.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Pontiac that is located in Saint Clair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clay County community of Pontiac.
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Quebec
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pontiac ...
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.
- Bunkum
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkum
- Bunkum is located in Saint Clair County
- Carbon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Caseyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caseyville
- Caseyville is located in Saint Clair County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,115 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caseyville <4>
- Crossroads
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Crossroads is located in Saint Clair County
- Dutch Hollow
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dutch Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Hollow
- Dutch Hollow is located in Saint Clair County
- French Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for French Village. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Village
- French Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Glenview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Hilltop
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Royal Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Heights
- Royal Heights is located in Saint Clair County
- Signal Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Signal Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Hill
- Signal Hill is located in Saint Clair County
- Union Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Saint Clair County
How Far From Pontiac 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 community such as Pontiac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pontiac and extending to:
- Belleville, which is the Seat of Saint Clair County, lies just to the South.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Pontiac to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 697 miles [1,121.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,431 miles [10,349.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,165 miles [11,530.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,045 miles [8,119.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pontiac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Saint Clair County: www.co.st-clair.il.us/
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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pontiac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pontiac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5873, Longitude: -89.9848 In this case, the coordinates for Pontiac 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Pontiac 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Pontiac 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 315.931 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.586 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.558 degrees. |