Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrill
- 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 Merrill:
- 42.721171, -96.250215
- 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 Merrill
- 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 Plymouth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Plymouth County
- Since Merrill is near Woodbury County and also Sioux County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Woodbury County
- eBird sighting report for Sioux 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 Merrill ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Merrill.
Within Iowa, the name Merrill is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrill ...
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.
- Craig
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Evergreen Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
- Evergreen Village is located in Woodbury County
- James
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
- James is located in Plymouth County
- Neptune
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Plymouth ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Ruble
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Union Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Center
- Union Center is located in Plymouth County
- Yeomans
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Merrill 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 city such as Merrill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrill and extending to:
- Le Mars, which is the Seat of Plymouth County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 155 miles [249.4 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Merrill to Des Moines, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,437 miles [10,359.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,192 miles [11,574.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,100 miles [8,207.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Plymouth County: www.co.plymouth.ia.us/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.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 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 Merrill 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Merrill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7212, Longitude: -96.2502 In this case, the coordinates for Merrill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Merrill 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 320.369 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.238 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.789 degrees. |