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:
- 40.947321, -74.457655
- 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 Morris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morris County
- Since Meriden is near Passaic County and also Essex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Passaic County
- eBird sighting report for Essex 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 New Jersey, the name Meriden is unique.
Beyond New Jersey, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- 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.
- Fox Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Franklin
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Green Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lake
- Green Lake is located in Morris County
- Green Pond
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
- Green Pond is located in Morris County
- Green Pond Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Pond Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond Junction
- Green Pond Junction is located in Morris County
- Hibernia
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibernia
- Hibernia is located in Morris County
- Hilltown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Lake Arrowhead
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Arrowhead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arrowhead
- Lake Arrowhead is located in Morris County
- Lower Longwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Longwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Longwood
- Lower Longwood is located in Morris County
- Lyonsville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsville
- Lyonsville is located in Morris County
- Mount Hope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Morris County
- Powerville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powerville
- Powerville is located in Morris County
- Rockaway Valley
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockaway Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockaway Valley
- Rockaway Valley is located in Morris County
- Smoke Rise
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smoke Rise have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Smoke Rise is located in Morris County
How Far From Meriden 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 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:
- Morristown, which is the Seat of Morris County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Meriden to Morristown, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 52 miles [83.7 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 over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 196 miles [315.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,703 miles [9,178.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,411 miles [10,317.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,287 miles [6,899.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
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 Morris County: www.co.morris.nj.us/
The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.state.nj.us/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- 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: 40.9473, Longitude: -74.4577 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 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 Meriden 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 306.187 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.832 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.756 degrees. |