Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrill
- 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 Merrill:
- 46.164217, -68.232250
- 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 Merrill
- 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 Aroostook County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Aroostook County
- Since Merrill is near Penobscot County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
- eBird sighting report for Penobscot 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 Merrill ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Merrill.
Within Maine, the name Merrill is unique.
Beyond Maine, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrill ...
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.
- Dyer Brook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer Brook
- Dyer Brook is located in Aroostook County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
- Halls Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Corner
- Halls Corner is located in Aroostook County
- Hersey
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Hillman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Island Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Falls
- Island Falls is located in Aroostook County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 773 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Island Falls <4>
- Little Canada
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Canada have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Canada
- Little Canada is located in Aroostook County
- New Limerick
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Limerick
- New Limerick is located in Aroostook County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Limerick <4>
- Pride
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
How Far From Merrill to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Merrill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrill and extending to:
- Houlton, which is the Seat of Aroostook County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Merrill to Houlton, 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.
- Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 148 miles [238.2 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 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 671 miles [1,079.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,244 miles [8,439.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 5,962 miles [9,594.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,838 miles [6,176.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Aroostook County: www.aroostook.me.us/
The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Merrill 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. |
| <2> | 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- Merrill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.1642, Longitude: -68.2322 In this case, the coordinates for Merrill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Merrill 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 301.547 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 297.52 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 297.089 degrees. |