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 Sims:
38.361501, -88.535343
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.
We found fifteen communities that are also named Sims.
Within Illinois, the name Sims is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of fifteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arkansas
Mississippi County
This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Sims [Mississippi County].
Montgomery County
This Sims is located in Montgomery County and lies 383 miles [616.4 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Sims.
California
Shasta County
This Sims is located in Shasta County and lies 1,794 miles [2,887.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shasta County community of Sims.
Georgia
Lowndes 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 Georgia community of Sims [Lowndes County].
Indiana
Bartholomew 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 Indiana community of Sims [Bartholomew County].
Grant County
This Sims is located in Grant County and lies 205 miles [329.9 km]<2> to the northeast of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grant County community of Sims.
Mississippi
Attala 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 Mississippi community of Sims [Attala County].
Missouri
Butler County
This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Sims [Butler County].
North Carolina
Wilson County
This Sims is located in Wilson County and lies 604 miles [972 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilson County community of Sims.
North Dakota
Morton County
This Sims is located in Morton County and lies 876 miles [1,409.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morton County community of Sims.
Ontario
This Sims lies 748 miles [1,203.8 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
South Carolina
Richland County
This Sims is located in Richland County and lies 520 miles [836.9 km]<2> to the southeast of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Richland County community of Sims.
Tennessee
Wayne 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 Tennessee community of Sims [Wayne County].
Texas
Brazos County
This Sims is located in Brazos County and lies 699 miles [1,124.9 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Brazos County community of Sims.
West Virginia
Greenbrier County
This Sims is located in Greenbrier County and lies 420 miles [675.9 km]<2> to the east of the Sims that is located in Wayne County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greenbrier County community of Sims.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sims ...
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.
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 village such as Sims to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sims and extending to:
Fairfield, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Sims to Fairfield, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 114 miles [183.5 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 620 miles [997.8 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,387 miles [10,278.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,117 miles [11,453.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,995 miles [8,038.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 Sims, 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- Sims) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Sims 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>
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.
<5>
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 Sims to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sims. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3615, Longitude: -88.5353 In this case, the coordinates for Sims have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.982 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.463 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.938 degrees.