Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shepherd, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shepherd and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shepherd
- 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 Shepherd:
- 39.725046, -91.344592
- 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 Shepherd
- 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 Pike County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pike County
- Since Shepherd is near Marion County and also Adams County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Shepherd ...
We found ten communities that share the name Shepherd.
Within Illinois, the name Shepherd is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Coffee 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 Georgia community of Shepherd [Coffee County].
- Wayne 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 Georgia community of Shepherd [Wayne County].
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Chouteau 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 Montana community of Shepherd [Chouteau County].
- Yellowstone County
- This Shepherd is located in Yellowstone County and lies 959 miles [1,543.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Shepherd that is located in Pike County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yellowstone County community of Shepherd.
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shepherd ...
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.
- Aladdin
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Cave City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Flint Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flint Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
- Flint Hill is located in Ralls County (MO)
- Hannibal
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
- Hannibal is located in Marion County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,246 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hannibal <4>
- Hull
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hull have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
- Hull is located in Pike County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hull <4>
- Lamb
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Marblehead
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marblehead
- Marblehead is located in Adams County
- Monkey Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monkey Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkey Run
- Monkey Run is located in Ralls County (MO)
- White Bear
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Bear have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Bear
- White Bear is located in Marion County (MO)
How Far From Shepherd 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 community such as Shepherd to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shepherd and extending to:
- Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Pike County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shepherd to Pittsfield, with an average speed<5> 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 just over a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 765 miles [1,231.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,424 miles [10,338.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,164 miles [11,529.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,049 miles [8,125.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shepherd. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shepherd) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shepherd. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7250, Longitude: -91.3446 In this case, the coordinates for Shepherd 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 Shepherd 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Shepherd 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 316.874 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.825 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.945 degrees. |