Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Selma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Selma and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Selma
- 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 Selma:
- 38.425880, -87.748084
- 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 Selma
- 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 Wabash County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wabash County
- Since Selma is near Gibson County and also Knox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Gibson County
- eBird sighting report for Knox 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 Selma ...
We found 30 communities that share the name Selma.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Selma.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 29 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 29 communities, 29 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- McLean County
- Although located in McLean County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McLean County community of Selma.
- McLean County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Anderson County
- This Selma is located in Anderson County and lies 400 miles [643.7 km]<1> to the west of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Selma.
- Geary County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Selma [Geary County].
- Osborne County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Selma [Osborne County].
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Marquette County
- This Selma is located in Marquette County and lies 548 miles [881.9 km]<1> to the north of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marquette County community of Selma.
- Wexford County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Selma [Wexford County].
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Jefferson County
- This Selma is located in Jefferson County and lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<1> to the west of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Selma.
- Saint Louis County
- Although located in Saint Louis County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Selma.
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Nova Scotia
- This Selma lies 1,326 miles [2,134 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- Ohio
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Bexar County
- This Selma is located in Bexar County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bexar County community of Selma.
- Montague County
- This Selma is located in Montague County and lies 660 miles [1,062.2 km] to the west southwest of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montague County community of Selma.
- Utah
- Virginia
- Alleghany County
- This Selma is located in Alleghany County and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the east of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alleghany County community of Selma.
- Staunton City
- This Selma is located in Staunton City and lies 470 miles [756.4 km] to the east of the Selma that is located in Wabash County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Staunton City community of Selma.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Selma ...
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.
- Crawleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crawleyville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawleyville
- Crawleyville is located in Gibson County (IN)
- Decker Chapel
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Decker Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decker Chapel
- Decker Chapel is located in Knox County (IN)
- Friendsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
- Friendsville is located in Wabash County
- Hickory Ridge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
- Hickory Ridge is located in Gibson County (IN)
- Jimtown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - King
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Little Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Little Rock is located in Knox County (IN)
- Lyles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Maud
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Sand Barrens
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Barrens have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Barrens
- Sand Barrens is located in Lawrence County
- Twin Bridges
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Bridges have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridges
- Twin Bridges is located in Knox County (IN)
How Far From Selma to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Selma 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 Selma once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Selma and extending to:
- Mount Carmel, which is the Seat of Wabash County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 138 miles [222.1 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Selma to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 578 miles [930.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,353 miles [10,224.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,082 miles [11,397.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,959 miles [7,980.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Selma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Selma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4259, Longitude: -87.7481 In this case, the coordinates for Selma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Selma 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. |
| <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 Selma, 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Selma to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.477 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.892 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.56 degrees. |