Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrick, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrick and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrick
- 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 Merrick:
- 42.116760, -72.624534
- 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 Merrick
- 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 Hampden County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hampden County
- Since Merrick is near Hartford County and also Hampshire County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Hartford County
- eBird sighting report for Hampshire 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 Merrick ...
We found eight communities that share the name Merrick.
Within Massachusetts, the name Merrick is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- New York
- Nassau County
- This Merrick is located in Nassau County and lies 111 miles [178.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Merrick that is located in Hampden County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nassau County community of Merrick.
- Queens County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Merrick [Queens County].
- Oklahoma
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrick ...
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.
- Cayenne
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Chicopee
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
- Chicopee is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,825 people
- Feeding Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Feeding Hills
- Feeding Hills is located in Hampden County
- Forest Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Hampden County
- Freeman Knoll
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeman Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Knoll
- Freeman Knoll is located in Hampden County
- Liberty Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Heights
- Liberty Heights is located in Hampden County
- Little River
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Little River is located in Hampden County
- Longmeadow
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
- Longmeadow is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,624 people
- Pine Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Point
- Pine Point is located in Hampden County
- Rock Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Valley
- Rock Valley is located in Hampden County
- Sandy Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hill
- Sandy Hill is located in Hampden County
- Trainfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trainfield
- Trainfield is located in Hampden County
How Far From Merrick 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 Merrick to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrick and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the Seat of Hampden County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Merrick to Boston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,579 miles [8,978.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,288 miles [10,119.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,164 miles [6,701.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrick. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Merrick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1168, Longitude: -72.6245 In this case, the coordinates for Merrick 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 Merrick 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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Merrick to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.949 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.626 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.397 degrees. |