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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Vermilion, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vermilion 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 Vermilion:
    • 39.580409, -87.587678
    • 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 Vermilion
  • 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 Edgar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Edgar County
    • Since Vermilion is near Vigo County and also Vermillion County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vigo County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vermillion 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 Vermilion

Communities Also Named Vermilion ...

We found four communities that are also named Vermilion.

Within Illinois, the name Vermilion is unique.

Beyond Illinois, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alberta
      • This Vermilion lies 1,446 miles [2,327.1 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vermilion that is located in Edgar County.
    • Michigan
      • Chippewa County
      • This Vermilion is located in Chippewa County and lies 510 miles [820.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Vermilion that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chippewa County community of Vermilion.
    • New York
      • Oswego County
      • This Vermilion is located in Oswego County and lies 641 miles [1,031.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vermilion that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oswego County community of Vermilion.
    • Ohio
      • Erie County
      • This Vermilion is located in Erie County and lies 302 miles [486 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vermilion that is located in Edgar County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Erie County community of Vermilion.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vermilion ...

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.

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

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

  • Paris, which is the Seat of Edgar County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 110 miles [177 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Vermilion to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 565 miles [909.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,292 miles [10,126 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,024 miles [11,304 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,902 miles [7,889 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Vermilion) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Vermilion 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 Vermilion. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5804, Longitude: -87.5877    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.397 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.962 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.186 degrees.