RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Fulton County >> Saint David >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Saint David:
    • 40.492495, -90.050008
    • 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 Saint David
  • 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 Fulton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton County
    • Since Saint David is near Mason County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mason County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Saint David

Communities Also Named Saint David ...

We found four communities that are also named Saint David.

Within Illinois, the name Saint David is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, .

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Cochise County
      • This Saint David is located in Cochise County and lies 1,266 miles [2,037.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Saint David that is located in Fulton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cochise County community of Saint David.
    • Maine
      • Aroostook County
      • This Saint David is located in Aroostook County and lies 1,178 miles [1,895.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint David that is located in Fulton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Saint David.
    • New Brunswick
      • This Saint David lies 1,325 miles [2,132.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint David that is located in Fulton County.
    • Quebec
      • This Saint David lies 941 miles [1,514.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Saint David that is located in Fulton County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Saint David ...

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.

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

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

  • Lewistown, which is the Seat of Fulton County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could walk a straight line from Saint David to Springfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,078 miles [11,390.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,962 miles [7,985.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Saint David) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Saint David 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 Saint David. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4925, Longitude: -90.0500    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.031 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.962 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.13 degrees.