RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Worcester County >> Merino Village >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Merino Village, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merino Village and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Merino Village:
    • 42.050097, -71.889794
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Merino Village
  • 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since Merino Village is near Windham County and also Providence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Providence 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Merino Village

Curious and Interesting Names Near Merino Village ...

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.

  • Chaseville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Chaseville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Dodge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Dodge is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
  • Globe Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Globe Village is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Village
  • Lakeview Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lakeview Heights is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
  • Loveland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Loveland is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
  • Mechanicsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Windham County (CT)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Roseland Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Roseland Park is located in Windham County (CT)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland Park
  • Sunnyside
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Sunnyside is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Texas
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Texas is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
  • Tufts Village ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tufts Village is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tufts Village

How Far From Merino Village 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 Merino Village to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Merino Village once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Merino Village and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Merino Village to Worcester, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 346 miles [556.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,551 miles [8,933.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,258 miles [10,071.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,134 miles [6,653 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Merino Village, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Merino Village) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Merino Village to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merino Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0501, Longitude: -71.8898       In this case, the coordinates for Merino Village have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.517 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.129 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.10 degrees.