Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sonora, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sonora and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sonora
- 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 Sonora:
- 40.494210, -91.354874
- 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 Sonora
- 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 Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hancock County
- Since Sonora is near Lee County and also Clark County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- eBird sighting report for Clark 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 Sonora ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Sonora.
Within Illinois, the name Sonora is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these seventeen communities, sixteen are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Maricopa County
- This Sonora is located in Maricopa County and lies 1,227 miles [1,974.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sonora that is located in Hancock County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Sonora.
- Pinal County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arizona community of Sonora [Pinal County].
- Arkansas
- California
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Harper 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 Kansas community of Sonora [Harper County].
- Lyon 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 Sonora [Lyon County].
- Nemaha 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 Sonora [Nemaha County].
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New York
- North Dakota
- Nova Scotia
- This Sonora lies 1,516 miles [2,439.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sonora that is located in Hancock County.
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Arizona
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sonora ...
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.
- Argyle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Argyle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Argyle is located in Lee County (IA)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Argyle <5>
- Bricker
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Carthage
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
- Carthage is located in Hancock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,419 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <5>
- Elderville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elderville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderville
- Elderville is located in Hancock County
- Ferris
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferris have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferris
- Ferris is located in Hancock County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferris <5>
- Franklin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Franklin is located in Lee County (IA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Sugar Creek ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Lee County (IA)
- Summitville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summitville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitville
- Summitville is located in Lee County (IA)
How Far From Sonora 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 Sonora to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Sonora once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sonora and extending to:
- Carthage, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sonora to Carthage, with an average speed<6> 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 102 miles [164.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 767 miles [1,234.4 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,386 miles [10,277.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,128 miles [11,471.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,014 miles [8,069.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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 from Point A (ie- Sonora) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sonora. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4942, Longitude: -91.3549 In this case, the coordinates for Sonora have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sonora, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 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 Sonora 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> | 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sonora to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.906 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.966 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.771 degrees. |