Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merriam, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merriam and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merriam
- 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 Merriam:
- 38.362548, -88.277266
- 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 Merriam
- 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wayne County
- Since Merriam is near Edwards County and also White County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Edwards County
- eBird sighting report for White 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 Merriam ...
We found six communities that share the name Merriam.
Within Illinois, the name Merriam is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Eastland County
- Although located in Eastland County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eastland County community of Merriam.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merriam ...
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.
- Burnt Prairie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnt Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Prairie
- Burnt Prairie is located in White County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 47 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burnt Prairie <4>
- Centerville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in White County
- Enterprise
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Enterprise. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Enterprise is located in Wayne County
- Golden Gate
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden Gate have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Gate
- Golden Gate is located in Wayne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden Gate <4>
- Maple Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Edwards County
- Marion
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Red Top
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east) - Round Prairie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Prairie
- Round Prairie is located in Wayne County
- Samsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast) - Springer Station
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springer Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springer Station
- Springer Station is located in White County
- Toms Prairie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toms Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toms Prairie
- Toms Prairie is located in Wayne County
How Far From Merriam to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Merriam to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merriam and extending to:
- Fairfield, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 122 miles [196.3 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Merriam to Springfield, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 607 miles [976.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,377 miles [10,262.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,107 miles [11,437.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,984 miles [8,021 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merriam. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Merriam) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merriam. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3625, Longitude: -88.2773 In this case, the coordinates for Merriam 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 Merriam 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> | 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 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. |
| <7> | 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 Merriam to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.816 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.272 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.819 degrees. |