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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 Waltham, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Waltham 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 Waltham:
- 41.433398, -89.010616
- 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 Waltham
- 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since Waltham is near Bureau County and also Lee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bureau County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lee 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 Waltham
Communities Also Named Waltham ...
We found six communities that are also named Waltham.
Within Illinois, the name Waltham is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of six communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these six communities, five are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Tama County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Waltham [Tama County].
- Maine
- Hancock County
- This Waltham is located in Hancock County and lies 1,063 miles [1,710.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Waltham that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Waltham.
- Massachusetts
- Middlesex County
- This Waltham is located in Middlesex County and lies 913 miles [1,469.3 km]<2> to the east of the Waltham that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Waltham.
- Minnesota
- Mower County
- This Waltham is located in Mower County and lies 256 miles [412 km]<2> to the northwest of the Waltham that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mower County community of Waltham.
- Montana
- Chouteau County
- This Waltham is located in Chouteau County and lies 1,152 miles [1,854 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Waltham that is located in La Salle County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chouteau County community of Waltham.
- Quebec
- This Waltham lies 681 miles [1,096 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Waltham that is located in La Salle County.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Waltham ...
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.
- Cherry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Deer Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Deer Park is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
- Freedom Centre ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Freedom Centre is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Centre
- Jonesville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Jonesville is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
- Little Rock ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Little Rock is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock
- Peru
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Peterstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Peterstown is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterstown
- Tomahawk Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Tomahawk Bluff is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk Bluff
- Triumph
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
How Far From Waltham 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 Waltham to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Waltham and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Waltham to Ottawa, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 655 miles [1,054.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,254 miles [10,064.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,994 miles [11,255.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,879 miles [7,852 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Waltham 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. |
| <2> | 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- Waltham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Waltham 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 Waltham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4334, Longitude: -89.0106 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.352 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.315 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.374 degrees. |
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