Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Virgil, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Virgil and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Virgil
- 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 Virgil:
- 40.624484, -90.396794
- 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 Virgil
- 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 Fulton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fulton County
- Since Virgil is near McDonough County and also Knox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for McDonough County
- eBird sighting report for Knox 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 Virgil ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Virgil.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Virgil.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- This Virgil lies 605 miles [973.7 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Virgil that is located in Fulton County.
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Virgil ...
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.
- Buckeye
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Greenbush
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - London Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for London Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Mills
- London Mills is located in Fulton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for London Mills <5>
- Manley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - New Philadelphia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Philadelphia
- New Philadelphia is located in McDonough County
- Pleasant Ridge ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Poverty Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poverty Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poverty Ridge
- Poverty Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Prairie City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie City
- Prairie City is located in McDonough County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Walnut Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in McDonough County
How Far From Virgil to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Virgil 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 Virgil once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Virgil and extending to:
- Lewistown, which is the Seat of Fulton County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Virgil to Lewistown, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 70 miles [112.7 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 718 miles [1,155.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,345 miles [10,211.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,085 miles [11,402.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,970 miles [7,998.4 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Virgil) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Virgil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6245, Longitude: -90.3968 In this case, the coordinates for Virgil 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 Virgil 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 Virgil, 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 Virgil 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 316.266 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.249 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.267 degrees. |