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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.
- 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:
- 44.737741, -93.594401
- 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 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Merriam is near Carver County and also Hennepin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Carver County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hennepin 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 Merriam
Communities Also Named Merriam ...
We found six communities that are also named Merriam.
Within Minnesota, the name Merriam is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Wayne County
- This Merriam is located in Wayne County and lies 518 miles [833.6 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Merriam that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Merriam.
- Indiana
- Noble County
- This Merriam is located in Noble County and lies 475 miles [764.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Merriam that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Noble County community of Merriam.
- Kansas
- Johnson County
- This Merriam is located in Johnson County and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the south of the Merriam that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Johnson County community of Merriam.
- Ohio
- Muskingum County
- This Merriam is located in Muskingum County and lies 686 miles [1,104 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Merriam that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskingum County community of Merriam.
- South Carolina
- Clarendon 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 South Carolina community of Merriam [Clarendon County].
- 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.
- Carver
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Coney Island
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Coney Island is located in Carver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coney Island
- Credit River
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Credit River is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit River
- Eden Prairie
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Eureka
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Eureka is located in Hennepin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Grainwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Grainwood is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grainwood
- Jonathan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jonathan is located in Carver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonathan
- Jordan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lydia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lydia is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Marystown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Marystown is located in Scott County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marystown
- Prior Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Savage
(11 miles [17.7 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 community 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:
- Shakopee, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Merriam to Saint Paul, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 940 miles [1,512.8 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 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,245 miles [10,050.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,000 miles [11,265.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,909 miles [7,900.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Merriam) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Merriam 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 Merriam. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7377, Longitude: -93.5944 In this case, the coordinates for Merriam have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.528 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.392 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.883 degrees. |
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