Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Meriden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Meriden and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Meriden
- 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 Meriden:
- 44.074129, -93.386883
- 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 Meriden
- 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 Steele County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Steele County
- Since Meriden is near Waseca County and also Rice County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Waseca County
- eBird sighting report for Rice 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 Meriden ...
We found nine communities that share the name Meriden.
Within Minnesota, the name Meriden is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Meriden ...
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.
- Bath
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
- Bath is located in Freeborn County
- Bixby
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast) - Colony Court
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony Court have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Court
- Colony Court is located in Waseca County
- Ellendale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellendale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Ellendale is located in Steele County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 669 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellendale <4>
- Elysian
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elysian
- Elysian is located in Waseca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 776 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elysian <4>
- Havana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Havana is located in Steele County
- Hope
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Hope is located in Steele County
- Janesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Janesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Janesville is located in Waseca County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,247 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Janesville <4>
- Lake Elysian
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Elysian have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Elysian
- Lake Elysian is located in Waseca County
- Prairieville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairieville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
- Prairieville is located in Rice County
- Rice Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - River Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Point
- River Point is located in Steele County
- Rogers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest) - Vista
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
- Vista is located in Waseca County
How Far From Meriden 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 community such as Meriden to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Meriden and extending to:
- Owatonna, which is the Seat of Steele County, lies just to the East.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Meriden to Saint Paul, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 916 miles [1,474.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,273 miles [10,095.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,026 miles [11,307.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,931 miles [7,935.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Meriden. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Steele County: www.co.steele.mn.us/
The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.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- Meriden) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Meriden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0741, Longitude: -93.3869 In this case, the coordinates for Meriden 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 Meriden 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 Meriden 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 318.376 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.131 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.941 degrees. |