RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Stewardson, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stewardson 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 Stewardson:
    • 39.263961, -88.630191
    • 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 Stewardson
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Stewardson is near Effingham County and also Fayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Effingham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 Stewardson

Curious and Interesting Names Near Stewardson ...

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.

  • Funkhouser
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Funkhouser is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Funkhouser
  • Green Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Creek is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Creek
  • Greenland ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenland is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
  • Holland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Holland is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
  • Holliday
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Holliday is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holliday
  • Kingman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kingman is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman
  • Lillyville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lillyville is located in Cumberland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillyville
  • Moccasin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Moccasin is located in Effingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moccasin
  • Mode
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mode is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mode

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Stewardson and extending to:

  • Shelbyville, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Stewardson to Shelbyville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 65 miles [104.6 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 621 miles [999.4 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,346 miles [10,212.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,080 miles [11,394.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,959 miles [7,980.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Stewardson) 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 Stewardson 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 Stewardson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2640, Longitude: -88.6302       In this case, the coordinates for Stewardson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.068 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.687 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.758 degrees.