RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Vermilion County >> Potomac >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Potomac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Potomac and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Potomac:
    • 40.306720, -87.797616
    • 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 Potomac
  • 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 Vermilion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vermilion County
    • Since Potomac is near Champaign County and also Ford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Champaign County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ford 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 Potomac

Communities Also Named Potomac ...

We found ten communities that are also named Potomac.

Within Illinois, the name Potomac is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Linn County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Linn County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Linn County community of Potomac.
    • Maryland
      • Allegany County
      • This Potomac is located in Allegany County and lies 476 miles [766 km]<2> to the east of the Potomac that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegany County community of Potomac.
      • Montgomery County
      • This Potomac is located in Montgomery County and lies 569 miles [915.7 km] to the east of the Potomac that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Potomac.
    • Montana
      • Missoula County
      • This Potomac is located in Missoula County and lies 1,359 miles [2,187.1 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Potomac that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Missoula County community of Potomac.
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Potomac.
    • Virginia
      • Alexandria City
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Potomac [Alexandria City].
      • Prince William County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Potomac [Prince William County].
      • Stafford 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 Virginia community of Potomac [Stafford County].
    • West Virginia
      • Mineral County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Potomac [Mineral County].
      • Ohio County
      • This Potomac is located in Ohio County and lies 383 miles [616.4 km]<2> to the east of the Potomac that is located in Vermilion County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ohio County community of Potomac.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Potomac ...

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.

  • Blue Grass ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Grass is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
  • Brothers
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Brothers is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brothers
  • Dailey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Dailey is located in Champaign County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
  • Denmark ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Denmark is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
  • Gerald
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gerald is located in Champaign County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerald
  • Glenburn
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Glenburn is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenburn
  • Gray Ford
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Gray Ford is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Ford
  • Hope
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hope is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Hustle
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Hustle is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustle
  • Jamesburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jamesburg is located in Vermilion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesburg
  • Royal
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Royal is located in Champaign County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Royal <4>

How Far From Potomac to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Potomac to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Danville, which is the Seat of Vermilion County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Potomac to Danville, with an average speed<5> 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 104 miles [167.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 580 miles [933.4 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 6,264 miles [10,080.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,999 miles [11,263.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,879 miles [7,852 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

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 Potomac, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Potomac) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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 Potomac 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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Potomac 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 Potomac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3067, Longitude: -87.7976       In this case, the coordinates for Potomac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.542 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.23 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.09 degrees.