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:
- 30.979076, -88.720587
- 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 George County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for George County
- Since Merrill is near Greene County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Greene County
- eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Mississippi, the name Merrill is unique.
Beyond Mississippi, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- 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.
- Central
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Crossroads is located in George County
- Dale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Deep Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deep Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek
- Deep Creek is located in Perry County
- Hillman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Leaf
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Little Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Creek
- Little Creek is located in Perry County
- Mountain ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Progress
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest) - Rock Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Rock Creek is located in George County
How Far From Merrill 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 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:
- Lucedale, which is the Seat of George County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 125 miles [201.2 km]<2> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Merrill to Jackson, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 856 miles [1,377.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,754 miles [10,869.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,458 miles [12,002.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,336 miles [8,587.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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 State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.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 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 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions 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: 30.9791, Longitude: -88.7206 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 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 Merrill 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 314.623 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.038 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.537 degrees. |