Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mercer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mercer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mercer
- 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 Mercer:
- 40.943044, -94.642742
- 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 Mercer
- 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 Adams County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Adams County
- Since Mercer is near Taylor County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Taylor County
- eBird sighting report for Union 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 Mercer ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Mercer.
Within Iowa, the name Mercer is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Mercer County
- This Mercer is located in Mercer County and lies 525 miles [844.9 km]<1> to the east of the Mercer that is located in Adams County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Mercer.
- Wood County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Mercer [Wood County].
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Cherokee County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mercer [Cherokee County].
- Union County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mercer [Union County].
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mercer ...
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.
- Bushville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Carbon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Carbon is located in Adams County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Carbon
- From Mercer to Carbon
- Carl
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Carl is located in Adams County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Carl
- From Mercer to Carl
- Corning
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Corning is located in Adams County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,424 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corning <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Corning
- From Mercer to Corning
- Dickieville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dickieville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickieville
- Dickieville is located in Adams County
- Gravity
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravity
- Gravity is located in Taylor County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gravity
- From Mercer to Gravity
- Kent
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Kent is located in Union County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Kent
- From Mercer to Kent
- Merle Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merle Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merle Junction
- Merle Junction is located in Taylor County
- Queen City ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queen City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
- Queen City is located in Adams County
- Stringtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stringtown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Adams County
How Far From Mercer 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 Mercer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mercer and extending to:
- Corning, which is the Seat of Adams County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 69 miles [111 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Mercer to Des Moines, with an average speed<7> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 941 miles [1,514.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,478 miles [10,425.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,227 miles [11,630.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,123 miles [8,244.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mercer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Adams County: www.co.adams.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Mercer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mercer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9430, Longitude: -94.6427 |
| <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 Mercer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Mercer 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. |
| <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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | 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 Mercer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.17 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.63 degrees. |
| <11> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.324 degrees. |