Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Prairie, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Prairie and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Prairie
- 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 Prairie:
- 38.173106, -89.943162
- 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 Prairie
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Prairie is near Monroe County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Monroe County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Prairie ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Prairie.
Within Illinois, the name Prairie is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Florida
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Prairie ...
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.
- Blair
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
- Blair is located in Randolph County
- Diamond Cross
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond Cross have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Cross
- Diamond Cross is located in Randolph County
- Eden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east) - Floraville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floraville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floraville
- Floraville is located in Saint Clair County
- Hecker
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hecker have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hecker
- Hecker is located in Monroe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hecker <5>
- Ivy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Kellogg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest) - Little Rock Landing ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Rock Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock Landing
- Little Rock Landing is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Marigold
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - New Bourbon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bourbon have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bourbon
- New Bourbon is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Red Bud
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bud
- Red Bud is located in Randolph County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,442 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Bud <5>
- Roots
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Wartburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Prairie 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 Prairie to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Prairie and extending to:
- Chester, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Prairie to Chester, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 112 miles [180.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 698 miles [1,123.3 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 6,450 miles [10,380.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,183 miles [11,559.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,062 miles [8,146.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Prairie. 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Prairie) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1731, Longitude: -89.9432 In this case, the coordinates for Prairie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Prairie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Prairie 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> | 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Prairie 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 315.888 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.479 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.633 degrees. |