Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shields, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shields and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shields
- 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 Shields:
- 38.467826, -88.713389
- 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 Shields
- 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Shields is near Marion County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- eBird sighting report for Wayne 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 Shields ...
We found eighteen communities that share the name Shields.
Within Illinois, the name Shields is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another eighteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eighteen communities, fifteen are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Jefferson 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 Shields [Jefferson County].
- Lane County
- This Shields is located in Lane County and lies 633 miles [1,018.7 km]<3> to the west of the Shields that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lane County community of Shields.
- Shawnee 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 Shields [Shawnee County].
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Saskatchewan
- This Shields lies 1,255 miles [2,019.7 km]<3> to the northwest of the Shields that is located in Jefferson County.
- Texas
- Virginia
- Accomack County
- This Shields is located in Accomack County and lies 701 miles [1,128.2 km]<3> to the east of the Shields that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Accomack County community of Shields.
- Prince Edward County
- This Shields is located in Prince Edward County and lies 554 miles [891.6 km] to the east of the Shields that is located in Jefferson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince Edward County community of Shields.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shields ...
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.
- Crisp
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Divide
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Greathouse Ford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greathouse Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greathouse Ford
- Greathouse Ford is located in Wayne County
- Harmony
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Helm
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Hickory Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
- Hickory Hill is located in Marion County
- Orchardville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchardville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchardville
- Orchardville is located in Wayne County
- Pigeon ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Union Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Town
- Union Town is located in Marion County
How Far From Shields 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 Shields to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Shields and extending to:
- Mount Vernon, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shields to Mount Vernon, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 629 miles [1,012.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,389 miles [10,282.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,120 miles [11,458.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,998 miles [8,043.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Shields: www.township.shields.il.us/
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 Shields, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Shields 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Shields) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4678, Longitude: -88.7134 In this case, the coordinates for Shields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Shields 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 315.10 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.614 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.994 degrees. |