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:
- 44.066511, -124.070674
- 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 Lane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lane County
- Since Mercer is near Douglas County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Douglas County
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Oregon, the name Mercer is unique.
Beyond Oregon, 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
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Mercer County
- This Mercer is located in Mercer County and lies 2,008 miles [3,231.6 km]<1> to the east of the Mercer that is located in Lane 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].
- 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.
- Acme
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Brickerville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brickerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickerville
- Brickerville is located in Lane County
- Canary
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Dunes City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunes City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunes City
- Dunes City is located in Lane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,412 people
- Earl ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Florence
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Florence is located in Lane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,210 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <5>
- Minerva
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Rainrock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Searose Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searose Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searose Beach
- Searose Beach is located in Lane County
- Tide
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
How Far From Mercer to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories 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 and using the location of where the historic community of Mercer once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Mercer and extending to:
- Eugene, which is the Seat of Lane County, lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Mercer to Eugene, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 2,425 miles [3,902.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,031 miles [11,315.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,793 miles [12,541.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,911 miles [9,512.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lane County: www.lanecounty.org/
The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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: 44.0665, Longitude: -124.0707 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 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 342.126 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.726 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 329.096 degrees. |