RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Madison County >> Roxana >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Roxana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Roxana and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Roxana:
    • 38.844424, -90.064524
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Roxana
  • 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Since Roxana is near Saint Charles County and also Saint Louis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Louis 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Roxana

Communities Also Named Roxana ...

We found ten communities that are also named Roxana.

Within Illinois, the name Roxana is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Chambers 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 Alabama community of Roxana [Chambers County].
      • Lee County
      • This Roxana is located in Lee County and lies 491 miles [790.2 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Roxana.
      • Montgomery County
      • This Roxana is located in Montgomery County and lies 506 miles [814.3 km] to the south southeast of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Roxana.
    • Delaware
      • Sussex County
      • This Roxana is located in Sussex County and lies 802 miles [1,290.7 km]<2> to the east of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sussex County community of Roxana.
    • Georgia
      • Paulding County
      • This Roxana is located in Paulding County and lies 445 miles [716.2 km]<2> to the southeast of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Paulding County community of Roxana.
    • Kentucky
      • Letcher County
      • This Roxana is located in Letcher County and lies 405 miles [651.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Letcher County community of Roxana.
    • Louisiana
      • Rapides Parish
      • This Roxana is located in Rapides Parish and lies 547 miles [880.3 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rapides Parish community of Roxana.
    • Michigan
      • Eaton 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 Roxana [Eaton County].
    • North Carolina
      • Randolph County
      • This Roxana is located in Randolph County and lies 591 miles [951.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Randolph County community of Roxana.
    • Oklahoma
      • Logan County
      • This Roxana is located in Logan County and lies 456 miles [733.9 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Roxana that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Roxana.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Roxana ...

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.

  • Cottage Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Cottage Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hills
  • Ivy Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ivy Heights is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Heights
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Meadowbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Mitchell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Rosedale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rosedale is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Rosewood Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Rosewood Heights is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosewood Heights
  • Wanda
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Wanda is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
  • Wood River
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)

How Far From Roxana 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 Roxana to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Roxana and extending to:

  • Edwardsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Roxana to Springfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 699 miles [1,124.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, 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 6,421 miles [10,333.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,156 miles [11,516.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,037 miles [8,106.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 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 Roxana 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- Roxana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Roxana to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roxana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8444, Longitude: -90.0645    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.993 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.692 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.535 degrees.