Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vilas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vilas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vilas
- 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 Vilas:
- 39.170045, -86.840006
- 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 Vilas
- 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 Owen County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Owen County
- Since Vilas is near Greene County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greene County
- eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Vilas ...
We found nine communities that share the name Vilas.
Within Indiana, the name Vilas is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vilas ...
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.
- Farmers
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Freedom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
- Freedom is located in Owen County
- Freeman
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Hubbell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Johnstown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Point Commerce
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Commerce have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Commerce
- Point Commerce is located in Greene County
- Pottersville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville
- Pottersville is located in Owen County
- Ridgeport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Tanner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Tulip
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
How Far From Vilas 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 Vilas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vilas and extending to:
- Spencer, which is the Seat of Owen County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Vilas to Indianapolis, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 525 miles [844.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,283 miles [10,111.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,012 miles [11,284.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,889 miles [7,868.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vilas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vilas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vilas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1700, Longitude: -86.8400 In this case, the coordinates for Vilas 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 Vilas 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 Vilas, 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 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. |
| <6> | 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 Vilas to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.909 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.346 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.948 degrees. |