RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Oneida County >> Merrick Corner >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Merrick Corner, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrick Corner and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Merrick Corner:
    • 43.307014, -75.289058
    • 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 Merrick Corner
  • 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 Oneida County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oneida County
    • Since Merrick Corner is near Herkimer County and also Lewis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Herkimer County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lewis 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 Merrick Corner

Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrick Corner ...

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.

  • Big Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Brook is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Brook
  • Fink Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fink Hollow is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fink Hollow
  • Floyd
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Floyd is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
  • Frenchville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Frenchville is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchville
  • Hillside
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillside is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Holland Patent
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hurlbutville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hurlbutville is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurlbutville
  • Maple Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Maple Grove is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Mapledale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mapledale is located in Oneida County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapledale
  • Prospect
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

How Far From Merrick Corner 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 Merrick Corner to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Merrick Corner and extending to:

  • Utica, which is the Seat of Oneida County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Merrick Corner to Utica, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 317 miles [510.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,641 miles [9,078.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,360 miles [10,235.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,236 miles [6,817.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Merrick Corner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Merrick Corner 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 Merrick Corner. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3070, Longitude: -75.2891       In this case, the coordinates for Merrick Corner have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.432 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.491 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.065 degrees.