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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative Quarter for Illinois





Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Terra Cotta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Terra Cotta 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 Terra Cotta:
    • 42.281689, -88.300642
    • 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 Terra Cotta
  • 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 Terra Cotta ...

We found eight communities that share the name Terra Cotta.

Within Illinois, the name Terra Cotta is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these eight communities, seven are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Riverside County
      • This Terra Cotta is located in Riverside County and lies 1,679 miles [2,702.1 km]<1> to the west of the Terra Cotta that is located in McHenry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Riverside County community of Terra Cotta.
      • San Diego 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 California community of Terra Cotta [San Diego County].
    • Georgia
      • Bibb County
      • This Terra Cotta is located in Bibb County and lies 702 miles [1,129.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Terra Cotta that is located in McHenry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Terra Cotta.
    • Kansas
      • Ellsworth County
      • This Terra Cotta is located in Ellsworth County and lies 562 miles [904.5 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Terra Cotta that is located in McHenry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellsworth County community of Terra Cotta.
    • Missouri
      • Jackson 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 Missouri community of Terra Cotta [Jackson County].
    • North Carolina
      • Guilford County
      • This Terra Cotta is located in Guilford County and lies 622 miles [1,001 km]<1> to the southeast of the Terra Cotta that is located in McHenry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Terra Cotta.
    • Ontario
      • This Terra Cotta lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Terra Cotta that is located in McHenry County.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake 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 Utah community of Terra Cotta [Salt Lake County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Terra Cotta ...

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.

  • Bull Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bull Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Valley
    • Bull Valley is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,078 people
  • Crystal Gardens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Gardens
    • Crystal Gardens is located in McHenry County
  • Crystal Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Crystal Lake is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,642 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crystal Lake <4>
  • Crystal Vista
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Vista
    • Crystal Vista is located in McHenry County
  • Emerald Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Park
    • Emerald Park is located in McHenry County
  • Ferndale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferndale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
    • Ferndale is located in McHenry County
  • Holiday Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
    • Holiday Hills is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
  • Island Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Lake
    • Island Lake is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,951 people
  • Prairie Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Grove
    • Prairie Grove is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,920 people
  • Riverstream
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverstream have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverstream
    • Riverstream is located in McHenry County
  • Silver Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • Silver Lake is located in McHenry County

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

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

  • Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Terra Cotta to Springfield, with an average speed<5>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 634 miles [1,020.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,187 miles [9,957 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,814 miles [7,747.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Terra Cotta. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Terra Cotta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Terra Cotta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2817, Longitude: -88.3006       In this case, the coordinates for Terra Cotta 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Terra Cotta 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>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.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Terra Cotta 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 314.879 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.893 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.783 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024