Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Wetzel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wetzel and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Wetzel
- 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 Wetzel:
- 39.706146, -87.706137
- 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 Wetzel
- 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 Edgar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Edgar County
- Since Wetzel is near Vermillion County and also Vigo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Vermillion County
- eBird sighting report for Vigo 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 Wetzel ...
We found four communities that share the name Wetzel.
Within Illinois, the name Wetzel is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Montana
- Pennsylvania
Curious and Interesting Names Near Wetzel ...
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.
- Bono
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Cherry Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Point
- Cherry Point is located in Edgar County
- Clays Prairie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clays Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clays Prairie
- Clays Prairie is located in Edgar County
- Edgar
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Harris
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Hughes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Jonestown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Kentucky
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Mabel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Mays
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Paris
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paris have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
- Paris is located in Edgar County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,144 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paris <5>
- Randall
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Raven
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven
- Raven is located in Edgar County
- Woodyard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
How Far From Wetzel 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 community such as Wetzel to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Wetzel and extending to:
- Paris, which is the Seat of Edgar County, lies just to the South.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Wetzel to Springfield, with an average speed<6>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 572 miles [920.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,290 miles [10,122.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,023 miles [11,302.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,902 miles [7,889 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Wetzel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
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 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 Wetzel 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> | 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 Wetzel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Wetzel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wetzel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7061, Longitude: -87.7061 In this case, the coordinates for Wetzel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Wetzel 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 314.475 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.069 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.208 degrees. |