Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Meriden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Meriden and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Meriden
- 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 Meriden:
- 41.571420, -89.033418
- 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 Meriden
- 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 La Salle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Since Meriden is near Lee County and also Bureau County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- eBird sighting report for Bureau 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 Meriden ...
We found nine communities that share the name Meriden.
Within Illinois, the name Meriden is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Meriden ...
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.
- Cherry
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry
- Cherry is located in Bureau County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 448 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cherry <4>
- Earlville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Earlville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlville
- Earlville is located in La Salle County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,570 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Earlville <4>
- East Paw Paw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Paw Paw have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
- East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
- Freedom Centre ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freedom Centre have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Centre
- Freedom Centre is located in La Salle County
- Paw Paw
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw
- Paw Paw is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 832 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paw Paw <4>
- Peterstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peterstown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterstown
- Peterstown is located in La Salle County
- Sublette
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublette have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublette
- Sublette is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sublette <4>
- Tomahawk Bluff
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tomahawk Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk Bluff
- Tomahawk Bluff is located in La Salle County
- Triumph
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triumph have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triumph
- Triumph is located in La Salle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Triumph <4>
- Twelvemile Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twelvemile Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelvemile Corner
- Twelvemile Corner is located in Lee County
How Far From Meriden 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 Meriden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Meriden and extending to:
- Ottawa, which is the Seat of La Salle County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Meriden to Ottawa, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 127 miles [204.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 658 miles [1,058.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,248 miles [10,055.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,989 miles [11,247.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,874 miles [7,843.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Meriden. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for La Salle County: www.lasallecounty.org/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Meriden) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Meriden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5714, Longitude: -89.0334 In this case, the coordinates for Meriden 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 Meriden 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> | 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Meriden 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 315.368 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.352 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.347 degrees. |