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:
- 40.655047, -84.585512
- 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 Mercer County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Since Mercer is near Van Wert County and also Auglaize County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Van Wert County
- eBird sighting report for Auglaize 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.
There is one other community in Ohio which is also named Mercer.
Beyond Ohio, we know of another sixteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Ohio ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Cherokee County
- This community is historic<3> 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.<1> 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.
- Bass Landing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bass Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass Landing
- Bass Landing is located in Mercer County
- Coldwater Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coldwater Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater Beach
- Coldwater Beach is located in Mercer County
- Converse
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Dull
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Durbin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Harbor Point
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harbor Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Point
- Harbor Point is located in Mercer County
- Idlewild
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Jonestown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Mariners Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mariners Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariners Point
- Mariners Point is located in Mercer County
- Neptune
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Sandy Beach
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Beach
- Sandy Beach is located in Auglaize County
- Striptown ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Turtle Neck Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turtle Neck Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turtle Neck Point
- Turtle Neck Point is located in Mercer County
How Far From Mercer 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 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:
- Celina, which is the Seat of Mercer County, lies just to the South.
- Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Mercer to Columbus, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 418 miles [672.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,125 miles [9,857.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,854 miles [11,030.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,732 miles [7,615.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
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 Mercer County: www.mercercountyohio.org/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn 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: 40.6550, Longitude: -84.5855 In this case, the coordinates for Mercer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.463 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.906 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.465 degrees. |