Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shoo Fly, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shoo Fly and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shoo Fly
- 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 Shoo Fly:
- 40.416153, -90.476794
- 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 Shoo Fly
- 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 McDonough County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDonough County
- Since Shoo Fly is near Fulton County and also Schuyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fulton County
- eBird sighting report for Schuyler 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 Shoo Fly ...
We found two communities that share the name Shoo Fly.
Within Illinois, the name Shoo Fly is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Shoo Fly ...
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.
- Buckeye
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Howard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Industry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
- Industry is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 432 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <3>
- Manley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - New Philadelphia
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
- New Philadelphia is located in McDonough County
- Poverty Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poverty Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poverty Ridge
- Poverty Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Table Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Table Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Table Grove
- Table Grove is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Table Grove <3>
- University Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
- University Village is located in McDonough County
- Vermont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vermont
- Vermont is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vermont <3>
How Far From Shoo Fly 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 Shoo Fly to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Shoo Fly and extending to:
- Macomb, which is the Seat of McDonough County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Shoo Fly to Macomb, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 61 miles [98.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 721 miles [1,160.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,358 miles [10,232.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,098 miles [11,423.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,983 miles [8,019.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shoo Fly. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 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 Shoo Fly 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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- Shoo Fly) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shoo Fly. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4162, Longitude: -90.4768 In this case, the coordinates for Shoo Fly have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Shoo Fly 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 316.315 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.276 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.358 degrees. |