Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Roots, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roots and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Roots
- 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 Roots:
- 38.017830, -89.972332
- 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 Roots
- 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 Roots is near Sainte Genevieve County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Sainte Genevieve County
- eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Roots ...
We found three communities that share the name Roots.
Within Illinois, the name Roots is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Roots ...
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.
- Diamond Cross
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond Cross have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Cross
- Diamond Cross is located in Randolph County
- Dozaville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dozaville
- Dozaville is located in Randolph County
- Hicks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Kellogg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Little Rock Landing ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Rock Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - New Bourbon
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bourbon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bourbon
- New Bourbon is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Quarry Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quarry Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry Town
- Quarry Town is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Quarry Town has also been known as:
- Quarrytown
How Far From Roots 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 community such as Roots to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Roots and extending to:
- Chester, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Roots to Chester, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 123 miles [197.9 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 701 miles [1,128.2 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,459 miles [10,394.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,191 miles [11,572.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,070 miles [8,159.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Roots. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Roots 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Roots) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roots. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0178, Longitude: -89.9723 In this case, the coordinates for Roots have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Roots to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.90 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.472 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.682 degrees. |