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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Summerdale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Summerdale 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 Summerdale:
    • 41.977532, -87.670890
    • 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 Summerdale
  • 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
    • Since Summerdale is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DuPage County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Summerdale

Communities Also Named Summerdale ...

We found four communities that are also named Summerdale.

Within Illinois, the name Summerdale is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Baldwin County
      • This Summerdale is located in Baldwin County and lies 793 miles [1,276.2 km]<1> to the south of the Summerdale that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baldwin County community of Summerdale.
    • New York
      • Chautauqua County
      • This Summerdale is located in Chautauqua County and lies 415 miles [667.9 km]<1> to the east of the Summerdale that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chautauqua County community of Summerdale.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Cumberland County
      • This Summerdale is located in Cumberland County and lies 569 miles [915.7 km]<1> to the east of the Summerdale that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Summerdale.
      • Philadelphia County
      • This Summerdale is located in Philadelphia County and lies 668 miles [1,075 km] to the east of the Summerdale that is located in Cook County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Summerdale.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Summerdale ...

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.

  • Birchwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Birchwood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood
  • Bricktown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Bricktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
  • California Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • California Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California Park
  • Cedar Lawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Edgewater
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Edgewater is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Lincoln Square ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Lincoln Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Square
  • Ravenswood
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Ravenswood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
  • Ravenswood Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ravenswood Gardens is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Gardens
  • Ravenswood Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Ravenswood Place is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood Place
  • Rogers Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Rogers Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers Park
  • Sunnyside
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sunnyside is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Swedentown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Swedentown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedentown

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

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Summerdale to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 597 miles [960.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,179 miles [9,944.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,918 miles [11,133.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,802 miles [7,728.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Summerdale) 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 Summerdale 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 Summerdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9775, Longitude: -87.6709       In this case, the coordinates for Summerdale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.46 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.374 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.557 degrees.