Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sylvan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylvan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sylvan
- 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 Sylvan:
- 39.987495, -90.071028
- 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 Sylvan
- 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 Cass County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cass County
- Since Sylvan is near Menard County and also Mason County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Menard County
- eBird sighting report for Mason 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 Sylvan ...
We found sixteen communities that share the name Sylvan.
Within Illinois, the name Sylvan is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these sixteen communities, fourteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Kansas
- Manitoba
- This Sylvan lies 842 miles [1,355.1 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Sylvan that is located in Cass County.
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Dent County
- Although located in Dent County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dent County community of Sylvan.
- New York
- Ontario
- This Sylvan lies 480 miles [772.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sylvan that is located in Cass County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Allegheny County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Sylvan [Allegheny County].
- Franklin County
- This Sylvan is located in Franklin County and lies 638 miles [1,026.8 km]<1> to the east of the Sylvan that is located in Cass County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Sylvan.
- Perry 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 Pennsylvania community of Sylvan [Perry County].
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylvan ...
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.
- Bobtown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Chandlerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandlerville
- Chandlerville is located in Cass County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chandlerville <5>
- Gurney ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Hill Top
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Hilltop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Jordanville ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordanville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordanville
- Jordanville is located in Morgan County
- Jules
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Little Indian
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Indian have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Indian
- Little Indian is located in Cass County
- Virginia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia
- Virginia is located in Cass County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,406 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia <5>
- Wolf Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Sylvan 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 Sylvan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Sylvan once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sylvan and extending to:
- Virginia, which is the Seat of Cass County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 26 miles [41.8 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Sylvan to Springfield, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 698 miles [1,123.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,364 miles [10,241.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,103 miles [11,431.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,986 miles [8,024.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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' (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- Sylvan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylvan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9875, Longitude: -90.0710 In this case, the coordinates for Sylvan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sylvan 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. |
| <3> | 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 Sylvan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sylvan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.033 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.895 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.265 degrees. |