Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ragtown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ragtown and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ragtown
- 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 Ragtown:
- 40.449208, -90.810133
- 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 Ragtown
- 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 McDonough County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDonough County
- Since Ragtown is near Hancock County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hancock County
- eBird sighting report for Schuyler 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 Ragtown ...
We found eight communities that share the name Ragtown.
Within Illinois, the name Ragtown is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Missouri
- Washington County
- Although located in Washington County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Ragtown.
- Nevada
- Texas
- Garza 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 Texas community of Ragtown [Garza County].
- Lamar County
- This Ragtown is located in Lamar County and lies 530 miles [853 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Ragtown that is located in McDonough County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lamar County community of Ragtown.
- Shelby County
- This Ragtown is located in Shelby County and lies 629 miles [1,012.3 km] to the south southwest of the Ragtown that is located in McDonough County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Ragtown.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ragtown ...
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.
- Fountain Green
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Green
- Fountain Green is located in Hancock County
- Good Hope
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Good Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Hope
- Good Hope is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Good Hope <5>
- Hills Grove ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hills Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Grove
- Hills Grove is located in McDonough County
- Industry
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
- Industry is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <5>
- La Crosse
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Little Ireland ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Ireland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Ireland
- Little Ireland is located in McDonough County
- Middle Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
- Middle Creek is located in Hancock County
- Plymouth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
- Plymouth is located in Hancock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plymouth <5>
- Spring Creek Settlement ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek Settlement
- Spring Creek Settlement is located in McDonough County
- Tennessee
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tennessee have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennessee
- Tennessee is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 106 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tennessee <5>
- University Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
- University Village is located in McDonough County
How Far From Ragtown 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 community such as Ragtown to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Ragtown once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ragtown and extending to:
- Macomb, which is the Seat of McDonough County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Ragtown 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 739 miles [1,189.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,368 miles [10,248.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,109 miles [11,440.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,995 miles [8,038.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ragtown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ragtown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4492, Longitude: -90.8101 In this case, the coordinates for Ragtown 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 Ragtown, 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 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 Ragtown 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 Ragtown 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 316.539 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.538 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.513 degrees. |