Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Saxon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Saxon and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Saxon
- 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 Saxon:
- 40.915034, -88.251440
- 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 Saxon
- 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 Livingston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- Since Saxon is near Ford County and also Kankakee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ford County
- eBird sighting report for Kankakee 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 Saxon ...
We found thirteen communities that share the name Saxon.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Saxon.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Ashland County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Saxon [Ashland County].
- Iron County
- This Saxon is located in Iron County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Saxon that is located in Livingston County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iron County community of Saxon.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Saxon ...
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.
- Blair
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Campus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campus have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campus
- Campus is located in Livingston County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campus <5>
- Cereal
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - Charlotte
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Dickeys
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Dwight
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
- Dwight is located in Livingston County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,984 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dwight <5>
- Pilot Center ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilot Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Center
- Pilot Center is located in Kankakee County
- Piper City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piper City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper City
- Piper City is located in Ford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 746 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piper City <5>
- Rugby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Union Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
- Union Hill is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 56 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union Hill <5>
- Wing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
- Wing is located in Livingston County
How Far From Saxon 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 Saxon to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Saxon once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Saxon and extending to:
- Pontiac, which is the Seat of Livingston County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Saxon to Pontiac, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day 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 107 miles [172.2 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 609 miles [980.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,989 miles [11,247.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,871 miles [7,839.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Livingston County: www.livingstoncounty-il.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Saxon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Saxon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Saxon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9150, Longitude: -88.2514 In this case, the coordinates for Saxon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Saxon 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. |
| <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 Saxon 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 314.845 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.662 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.142 degrees. |