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:
- 39.019172, -94.691903
- 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- Since Merriam is near Wyandotte County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wyandotte County
- eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Kansas, the name Merriam is unique.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Indiana
- 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.
- Countryside
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Countryside have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
- Countryside is located in Johnson County
- Fairway
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairway have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway
- Fairway is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairway <4>
- Grays Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grays Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Park
- Grays Park is located in Wyandotte County
- Holliday
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Indian Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Indian Village is located in Jackson County (MO)
- Mission
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Mission is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,873 people
- Former name for Mission:
- Mission Hill Acres
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mission <4>
- Mission Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
- Mission Hills is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,533 people
- Mission Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Woods
- Mission Woods is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Prairie Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Village
- Prairie Village is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,315 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie Village <4>
- Stony Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
- Stony Point is located in Wyandotte County
- Waldo
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
How Far From Merriam 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 city 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:
- Olathe, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Merriam to Olathe, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 946 miles [1,522.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,325 miles [11,788.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,214 miles [8,391.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Merriam: www.merriam.org/
The official website for Johnson County: www.jocoks.com/
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.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 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: 39.0192, Longitude: -94.6919 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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> | 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 Merriam 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 319.103 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.304 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.732 degrees. |