Welcome to Merriam ...

The city of Merriam is located in Johnson County<1>.

The location of Merriam has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Merriam, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1881.

The origin (or the toponymy) of Merriam: Named for Charles Merriam.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Merriam has a population of 11,089 people<3> (see below for details).

Merriam is 950 feet [290 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Merriam lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Merriam is within the (913) area code.

Websites for Merriam ...

Official Website: www.merriam.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Merriam had an population of 11,089 people. This is an increase of 0.78% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.74% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Merriam had a population of 11,003 people. This makes Merriam the county's 8th most populous community.

The population of Merriam represents 0.39% of the total population of Kansas (which has 2,853,118 people), making it the state's 34th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 11,003 people, the population of Merriam has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 11,008 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Merriam.

Communities Also Named Merriam ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Merriam - they are located in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Merriam.

Communities near Merriam ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Merriam.

• Kansas City
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas City
  • Kansas City is located in Jackson County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 497,159 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas City <5>
• Overland Park
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overland Park
  • Overland Park is located in Johnson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 197,381 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Overland Park <5>
• Kansas City
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas City
  • Kansas City is located in Wyandotte County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 152,727 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas City <5>
• Olathe
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olathe
  • Olathe is located in Johnson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 141,665 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olathe <5>
• Independence
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
  • Independence is located in Jackson County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 116,774 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <5>
• Lee's Summit
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee's Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee's Summit
  • Lee's Summit is located in Cass County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 101,467 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee's Summit <5>
• Shawnee
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shawnee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
  • Shawnee is located in Johnson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,298 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shawnee <5>
• Raytown
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raytown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raytown
  • Raytown is located in Jackson County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,816 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raytown <5>
• Gladstone
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gladstone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
  • Gladstone is located in Clay County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,677 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gladstone <5>
• Grandview
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
  • Grandview is located in Jackson County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,711 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grandview <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Merriam. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Merriam.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Merriam. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Merriam.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Merriam. See our Newspapers Page for Merriam.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Merriam ...

Looking for more information about Merriam? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Merriam, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Merriam.

Adding Merriam to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Merriam in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Merriam was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Merriam post office opened in 1881.

We also found Merriam in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Merriam.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Merriam: www.merriam.org/

The official website for Johnson County: www.jocoks.com/

The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/