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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Virden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Virden and the surrounding area.
- 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 Virden:
- 39.502921, -89.767497
- 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 Virden
- 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 Macoupin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Macoupin County
- Since Virden is near Sangamon County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Virden
Communities Also Named Virden ...
We found five communities that are also named Virden.
Within Illinois, the name Virden is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of five communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Powell County
- This Virden is located in Powell County and lies 332 miles [534.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Virden that is located in Macoupin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Powell County community of Virden.
- Manitoba
- This Virden lies 898 miles [1,445.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Virden that is located in Macoupin County.
- Montana
- Toole County
- This Virden is located in Toole County and lies 1,257 miles [2,022.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Virden that is located in Macoupin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Toole County community of Virden.
- New Mexico
- Hidalgo County
- This Virden is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,168 miles [1,879.7 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Virden that is located in Macoupin County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Virden.
- Washington
- Kittitas 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 Washington community of Virden [Kittitas County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Virden ...
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.
- Centerville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Centerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Farmersville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Glenarm
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Greenridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Greenridge is located in Macoupin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
- Irwins Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Irwins Park is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwins Park
- Knapp
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Knapp is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knapp
- Lemmon ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lemmon is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemmon
- Maxwell ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Standard City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Tower Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Tower Heights is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
How Far From Virden 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 city such as Virden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Virden and extending to:
- Carlinville, which is the Seat of Macoupin County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Virden to Carlinville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 20 miles [32.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 681 miles [1,096 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 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,377 miles [10,262.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,114 miles [11,448.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,995 miles [8,038.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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- Virden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Virden 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Virden 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 Virden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5029, Longitude: -89.7675 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.819 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.583 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.238 degrees. |
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