Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Roanoke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roanoke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Roanoke
- 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 Roanoke:
- 40.796704, -89.201509
- 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 Roanoke
- 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 Woodford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Woodford County
- Since Roanoke is near Marshall County and also McLean County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- eBird sighting report for McLean 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 Roanoke ...
We found twenty communities that share the name Roanoke.
Within Illinois, the name Roanoke is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twenty communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Ben Hill County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Roanoke [Ben Hill County].
- Stewart County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Roanoke [Stewart County].
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Hamilton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Roanoke [Hamilton County].
- Meade 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 Kansas community of Roanoke [Meade County].
- Stanton County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Stanton County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stanton County community of Roanoke.
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Roanoke ...
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.
- Bowling Green ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowling Green have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowling Green
- Bowling Green is located in Woodford County
- Carlock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlock
- Carlock is located in McLean County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 558 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carlock <5>
- Cooper
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
- Cooper is located in Tazewell County
- Deer Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
- Deer Creek is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 657 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Creek <5>
- Eureka
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Eureka is located in Woodford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,232 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eureka <5>
- Farmsville ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmsville
- Farmsville is located in Woodford County
- Harvard Hills
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Hills
- Harvard Hills is located in Tazewell County
- Hickory Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Point
- Hickory Point is located in Woodford County
- Low Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Rutland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rutland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
- Rutland is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rutland <5>
- Spires
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Roanoke 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 village such as Roanoke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Roanoke and extending to:
- Eureka, which is the Seat of Woodford County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Roanoke 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 657 miles [1,057.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,292 miles [10,126 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,031 miles [11,315.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,915 miles [7,909.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Roanoke: www.roanokeil.org/
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Roanoke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roanoke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7967, Longitude: -89.2015 In this case, the coordinates for Roanoke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Roanoke 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. |
| <3> | 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 Roanoke, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Roanoke 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 315.472 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.364 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.637 degrees. |