Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ransom, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ransom and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ransom
- 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 Ransom:
- 41.156792, -88.651313
- 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 Ransom
- 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since Ransom is near Livingston County and also Grundy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- eBird sighting report for Grundy 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 Ransom ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Ransom.
Within Illinois, the name Ransom is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Calhoun County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ransom [Calhoun County].
- Hillsdale County
- This Ransom is located in Hillsdale County and lies 217 miles [349.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ransom that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsdale County community of Ransom.
- Marquette 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 Michigan community of Ransom [Marquette County].
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Utah
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ransom ...
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.
- Budd
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Budd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Budd
- Budd is located in Livingston County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Budd
- From Ransom to Budd
- Grand Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Ridge
- Grand Ridge is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Ridge <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Grand Ridge
- From Ransom to Grand Ridge
- Katy Did
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Kinsman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinsman
- Kinsman is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kinsman <4>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Kinsman
- From Ransom to Kinsman
- Manville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Nevada
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - New Michigan ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Michigan have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Michigan
- New Michigan is located in Livingston County
- Otter ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Richards
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
How Far From Ransom 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 village such as Ransom to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ransom and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ransom to Ottawa, with an average speed<6> 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 five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 108 miles [173.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 633 miles [1,018.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,255 miles [10,066.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,993 miles [11,254.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,877 miles [7,848.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ransom. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for La Salle County: www.lasallecounty.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Ransom 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. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ransom) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ransom. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1568, Longitude: -88.6513 |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <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 Ransom 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 315.111 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.00 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.272 degrees. |