Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Town, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Town and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for West Town
- 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 Town:
- 41.901421, -87.686166
- 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 West Town
- 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 Cook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cook County
- Since West Town is near DuPage County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for DuPage County
- eBird sighting report for Lake 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 West Town ...
We found two communities that share the name West Town.
Within Illinois, the name West Town is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Ohio
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Town ...
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.
- Bricktown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Fifty Acres
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fifty Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifty Acres
- Fifty Acres is located in Cook County
- Gold Coast
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gold Coast have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Coast
- Gold Coast is located in Cook County
- Humboldt
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Humboldt Park
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Humboldt Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humboldt Park
- Humboldt Park is located in Cook County
- Lincoln Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Cook County
- Little Hell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Hell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Hell
- Little Hell is located in Cook County
- Little Sicily
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Sicily have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sicily
- Little Sicily is located in Cook County
- Maplewood
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Maplewood Courts
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maplewood Courts have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Courts
- Maplewood Courts is located in Cook County
- Shantytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shantytown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shantytown
- Shantytown is located in Cook County
- Streeterville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Streeterville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Streeterville
- Streeterville is located in Cook County
- Swede Town
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swede Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swede Town
- Swede Town is located in Cook County
- Towertown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Whiskey Point
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whiskey Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Point
- Whiskey Point is located in Cook County
- Maplewood Courts
How Far From West Town 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 community such as West Town to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Town and extending to:
- Chicago, which is the Seat of Cook County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 178 miles [286.5 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from West Town to Springfield, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 596 miles [959.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,806 miles [7,734.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Town. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cook County: www.co.cook.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 from Point A (ie- West Town) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9014, Longitude: -87.6862 In this case, the coordinates for West Town 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 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 Town 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> | 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. |
| <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 Town to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.471 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.375 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.587 degrees. |