Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in San Jose, we use the following websites to find information relevant to San Jose and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for San Jose
- 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 San Jose:
- 40.305983, -89.604040
- 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 San Jose
- 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 Mason County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Since San Jose is near Tazewell County and also Logan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- eBird sighting report for Logan 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 San Jose ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name San Jose.
Within Illinois, the name San Jose is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Cochise 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 Arizona community of San Jose [Cochise County].
- Graham County
- This San Jose is located in Graham County and lies 1,219 miles [1,961.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Graham County community of San Jose.
- California
- Los Angeles County
- This San Jose is located in Los Angeles County and lies 1,600 miles [2,575 km]<2> to the west of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of San Jose.
- Marin County
- This San Jose is located in Marin County and lies 1,760 miles [2,832.4 km] to the west of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marin County community of San Jose.
- San Diego County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in San Diego County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Diego County community of San Jose.
- Santa Clara County
- This San Jose is located in Santa Clara County and lies 1,739 miles [2,798.6 km] to the west of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of San Jose.
- Florida
- New Mexico
- Bernalillo County
- This San Jose is located in Bernalillo County and lies 997 miles [1,604.5 km]<2> to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bernalillo County community of San Jose.
- Eddy County
- This San Jose is located in Eddy County and lies 977 miles [1,572.3 km] to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eddy County community of San Jose.
- Rio Arriba County
- This San Jose is located in Rio Arriba County and lies 940 miles [1,512.8 km] to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rio Arriba County community of San Jose.
- San Miguel County
- This San Jose is located in San Miguel County and lies 927 miles [1,491.9 km] to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Miguel County community of San Jose.
- Sierra County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Sierra County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sierra County community of San Jose.
- Socorro County
- This community is historic and although located in Socorro County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Socorro County community of San Jose.
- Valencia 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 New Mexico community of San Jose [Valencia County].
- Texas
- Bexar County
- This San Jose is located in Bexar County and lies 909 miles [1,462.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of San Jose.
- Duval County
- This San Jose is located in Duval County and lies 1,008 miles [1,622.2 km] to the south southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Duval County community of San Jose.
- El Paso County
- This San Jose is located in El Paso County and lies 1,105 miles [1,778.3 km] to the west southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Paso County community of San Jose.
- Starr County
- This San Jose is located in Starr County and lies 1,096 miles [1,763.8 km] to the south southwest of the San Jose that is located in Mason County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Starr County community of San Jose.
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near San Jose ...
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.
- Allen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Bell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
- Bell is located in Logan County
- Forest City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
- Forest City is located in Mason County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Green Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Valley <5>
- Harness
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Hartsburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsburg
- Hartsburg is located in Logan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 302 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hartsburg <5>
- Lucas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Luther
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Mason City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason City
- Mason City is located in Mason County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,088 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason City <5>
- New Holland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
- New Holland is located in Logan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Holland <5>
- Union
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
How Far From San Jose 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 San Jose to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in San Jose and extending to:
- Havana, which is the Seat of Mason County, lies 24 miles [38.6 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from San Jose to Havana, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 675 miles [1,086.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,070 miles [11,378.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,953 miles [7,971.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for San Jose. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mason County: www.masoncountyil.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 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 San Jose 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- San Jose) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Jose. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.3060, Longitude: -89.6040 In this case, the coordinates for San Jose have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 San Jose, 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 San Jose 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 315.731 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.592 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.96 degrees. |