Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portuguese Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portuguese Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Portuguese Hill
- 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 Portuguese Hill:
- 39.755881, -90.215398
- 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 Portuguese Hill
- 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- Since Portuguese Hill is near Cass County and also Scott County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cass County
- eBird sighting report for Scott 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portuguese Hill ...
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.
- Arnold
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Franklin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Franklin <2>
- Jordanville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordanville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordanville
- Jordanville is located in Morgan County
- Joy Prairie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joy Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy Prairie
- Joy Prairie is located in Morgan County
- Little Indian
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Indian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Indian
- Little Indian is located in Cass County
- Lynnville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Orleans
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Savage ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Yeomans
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Portuguese Hill 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 Portuguese Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Portuguese Hill and extending to:
- Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Portuguese Hill to Springfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 705 miles [1,134.6 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 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,381 miles [10,269.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,119 miles [11,456.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,002 miles [8,049.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Portuguese Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Portuguese Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Portuguese Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7559, Longitude: -90.2154 In this case, the coordinates for Portuguese Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Portuguese Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.123 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.966 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.391 degrees. |