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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swede Town, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swede Town 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 Swede Town:
    • 41.892811, -87.639775
    • 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 Swede Town
  • 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 Swede Town 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 Swede Town

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swede Town ...

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.

  • Bricktown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bricktown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricktown
  • Chinatown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Chinatown is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • Fifty Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Fifty Acres is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifty Acres
  • Film Row
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Film Row is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Film Row
  • Gold Coast
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Gold Coast is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Coast
  • Harbor Square
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Harbor Square is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Square
  • Humboldt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Humboldt is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt
  • Lincoln Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Little Hell
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Little Hell is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Hell
  • Little Sicily
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Little Sicily is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sicily
  • Locks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Locks is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks
  • Maplewood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Maplewood is located in Cook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Maplewood Courts
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Maplewood Courts is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Courts
    • Park Row
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Park Row is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Row
    • Prairie Courts
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Prairie Courts is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Courts
    • Prairie Shores
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Prairie Shores is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Shores
    • Shantytown
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Shantytown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shantytown
    • Streeterville
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Streeterville is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Streeterville
    • Towertown
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Towertown is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towertown

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

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

  • Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the South.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Swede Town 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 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 594 miles [956 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 6,182 miles [9,949 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,921 miles [11,138.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,804 miles [7,731.3 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Swede Town) 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 Swede Town 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 Swede Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8928, Longitude: -87.6398       In this case, the coordinates for Swede Town have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.44 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.339 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.566 degrees.