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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Meriden ...

Meriden is located in La Salle County<1>.

The pronunciation of Meriden: MAIR-i-den<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Meriden, you might consider that their post office opened in 1863.

When the people of Meriden refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Meridenite<3>

Meriden is 720 feet [219 m] above sea level.<4>.

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

Area Codes for Meriden: 815 & 779<5>

Communities Also Named Meriden ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 9 communities that are also named Meriden - they are located in Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, West Virginia and Wyoming.

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

Communities near Meriden ...

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

  • Ottawa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Ottawa is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,097 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottawa <6>
  • Peru
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Peru is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,612 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peru <6>
  • La Salle
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Mendota
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Spring Valley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Oglesby
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Sheridan
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Somonauk
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Earlville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Waterman
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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 Meriden. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Meriden.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Meriden. 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 Meriden.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Meriden ...

Looking for more information about Meriden? 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.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Meriden, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Meriden.

Adding Meriden to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Meriden 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 (so far) for Meriden was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Meriden post office opened in 1863. The Meriden post office closed in 1957.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Meriden.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including La Salle, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Meriden. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Meriden refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Meriden may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Meriden - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Meriden area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Meriden area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/