Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Smithshire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Smithshire and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Smithshire
- 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 Smithshire:
- 40.792817, -90.779859
- 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 Smithshire
- 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 Warren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Warren County
- Since Smithshire is near Henderson County and also McDonough County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Henderson County
- eBird sighting report for McDonough 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Smithshire ...
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.
- Biggsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Biggsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggsville
- Biggsville is located in Henderson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Denny ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Eleanor
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north) - Greenbush
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - Hopper
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Lone Tree
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Media
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Reeds
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Roseville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Roseville is located in Warren County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 885 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseville <3>
- Swan Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swan Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Creek
- Swan Creek is located in Warren County
How Far From Smithshire 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 Smithshire to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Smithshire and extending to:
- Monmouth, which is the Seat of Warren County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Smithshire to Monmouth, 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 91 miles [146.5 km] to the southeast (SE). 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 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 739 miles [1,189.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,350 miles [10,219.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,092 miles [11,413.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Smithshire. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smithshire) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smithshire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7928, Longitude: -90.7799 In this case, the coordinates for Smithshire 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 Smithshire 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 316.527 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.571 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.415 degrees. |