Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Steele, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Steele and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Steele
- 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 Steele:
- 41.505865, -87.962276
- 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 Steele
- 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 Will County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Will County
- Since Steele is near Cook County and also DuPage County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cook County
- eBird sighting report for DuPage 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 Steele ...
We found fourteen communities that share the name Steele.
Within Illinois, the name Steele is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another fourteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Morgan 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 Kentucky community of Steele [Morgan County].
- Pike 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 Kentucky community of Steele [Pike County].
- Mississippi
- Attala 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 Mississippi community of Steele [Attala County].
- Scott County
- This Steele is located in Scott County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the south of the Steele that is located in Will County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Steele.
- Missouri
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Steele ...
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.
- Brisbane
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Broken Arrow
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broken Arrow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broken Arrow
- Broken Arrow is located in Will County
- Cherry Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
- Cherry Hill is located in Will County
- Forest Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Will County
- Lincolnwood Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincolnwood Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnwood Hills
- Lincolnwood Hills is located in Will County
- Marley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Michigan Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Michigan Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Beach
- Michigan Beach is located in Will County
- Pine Needle
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Needle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Needle
- Pine Needle is located in Will County
- Rolling Glen
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Glen
- Rolling Glen is located in Will County
- Spring Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Spring Creek is located in Will County
- Thunder Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thunder Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Ridge
- Thunder Ridge is located in Will County
- Union
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
How Far From Steele 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 Steele to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Steele and extending to:
- Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 148 miles [238.2 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Steele to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 603 miles [970.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,212 miles [9,997.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,951 miles [11,186.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,834 miles [7,779.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Steele. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Will County: www.willcountyillinois.com/
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- Steele) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Steele. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5059, Longitude: -87.9623 In this case, the coordinates for Steele 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 Steele, 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 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 Steele 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 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 Steele 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 314.655 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.529 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.836 degrees. |