Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Mercer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mercer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Mercer
- 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 Mercer:
- 41.374444, -96.425858
- 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 Mercer
- 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- Since Mercer is near Saunders County and also Dodge County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saunders County
- eBird sighting report for Dodge 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 Mercer ...
We found seventeen communities that share the name Mercer.
Within Nebraska, the name Mercer is unique.
Beyond Nebraska, we know of another seventeen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Mercer County
- This Mercer is located in Mercer County and lies 618 miles [994.6 km]<1> to the east of the Mercer that is located in Douglas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Mercer.
- Wood County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Mercer [Wood County].
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Cherokee County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mercer [Cherokee County].
- Union County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Mercer [Union County].
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mercer ...
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.
- Cedar Bluffs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluffs
- Cedar Bluffs is located in Saunders County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Bluffs <4>
- Colon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Colon is located in Saunders County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colon <4>
- Elk City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk City
- Elk City is located in Douglas County
- Elkhorn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkhorn have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Elkhorn is located in Douglas County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkhorn <4>
- King Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Lake
- King Lake is located in Douglas County
- Mead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
- Mead is located in Saunders County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 571 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mead <4>
- Skyline
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley
- Valley is located in Douglas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,928 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley <4>
How Far From Mercer 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 Mercer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mercer and extending to:
- Omaha, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Mercer to Omaha, with an average speed<6> 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 most of a day.
- Lincoln, which is the State Capital of Nebraska, lies 41 miles [66 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,515 miles [10,484.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,268 miles [11,696.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,170 miles [8,320.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mercer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Douglas County: www.co.douglas.ne.us/
The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mercer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mercer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.3744, Longitude: -96.4259 In this case, the coordinates for Mercer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Mercer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Mercer 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Mercer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.436 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 318.145 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.158 degrees. |