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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 West Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Ridge 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 West Ridge:
- 39.825865, -88.216990
- 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 West Ridge
- 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- Since West Ridge is near Champaign County and also Piatt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Champaign County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Piatt 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 West Ridge
Communities Also Named West Ridge ...
We found nine communities that are also named West Ridge.
Within Illinois, the name West Ridge is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Jefferson County
- This West Ridge is located in Jefferson County and lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of West Ridge.
- Lee County
- This West Ridge is located in Lee County and lies 519 miles [835.2 km] to the south southeast of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of West Ridge.
- Arkansas
- Mississippi County
- This West Ridge is located in Mississippi County and lies 307 miles [494.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of West Ridge.
- New York
- Monroe 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 New York community of West Ridge [Monroe County].
- Pennsylvania
- Erie 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 Pennsylvania community of West Ridge [Erie County].
- Lancaster County
- This West Ridge is located in Lancaster County and lies 627 miles [1,009.1 km]<1> to the east of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of West Ridge.
- South Carolina
- Sumter County
- This West Ridge is located in Sumter County and lies 594 miles [956 km]<1> to the southeast of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sumter County community of West Ridge.
- Tennessee
- Hawkins County
- This West Ridge is located in Hawkins County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hawkins County community of West Ridge.
- Sullivan County
- This West Ridge is located in Sullivan County and lies 394 miles [634.1 km] to the east southeast of the West Ridge that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of West Ridge.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Ridge ...
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.
- Bourbon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bourbon is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourbon
- Chicken Bristle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Chicken Bristle is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicken Bristle
- Ficklin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Ficklin is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ficklin
- Hillcrest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hillcrest is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
- Hindsboro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hugo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hugo is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
- Jimtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jimtown is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
- Longview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Meadowview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meadowview is located in Douglas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
How Far From West Ridge 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 West Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Ridge and extending to:
- Tuscola, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from West Ridge to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 599 miles [964 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 34 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,303 miles [10,143.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,038 miles [11,326.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,917 miles [7,913.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- West Ridge) 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 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 West Ridge 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 West Ridge 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 West Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8259, Longitude: -88.2170 In this case, the coordinates for West Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.81 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.469 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.418 degrees. |
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