RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Sangamon County >> Southlawn >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Southlawn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southlawn and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Southlawn:
    • 39.753662, -89.621486
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Southlawn
  • 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 Sangamon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
    • Since Southlawn is near Christian County and also Menard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Christian County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Menard 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Southlawn

Communities Also Named Southlawn ...

We found one communities that are also named Southlawn.

Within Illinois, the name Southlawn is unique.

Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Southlawn in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Montgomery County
      • This Southlawn is located in Montgomery County and lies 545 miles [877.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Southlawn that is located in Sangamon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Southlawn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southlawn ...

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.

  • Archer
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Archer is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archer
  • Clear Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clear Lake is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
  • Cody
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cody is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cody
  • Cotton Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cotton Hill is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
  • Grandview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Grandview is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,369 people
  • Jerome
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jerome is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
  • Jess
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jess is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jess
  • Mildred
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Mildred is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
  • Shale Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Shale Bluff is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shale Bluff
  • Woodside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodside is located in Sangamon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside

How Far From Southlawn 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 Southlawn to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Southlawn and extending to:

  • Springfield, which is the Seat of Sangamon County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies just to the northwest (NW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 674 miles [1,084.7 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Southlawn to White House, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 39 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,359 miles [10,233.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,096 miles [11,419.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Southlawn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Southlawn 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 Southlawn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7537, Longitude: -89.6215       In this case, the coordinates for Southlawn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.73 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.514 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.106 degrees.