RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> Merion Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Merion Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merion Park 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 Merion Park:
    • 39.993446, -75.251015
    • 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 Merion Park
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Merion Park is near Allegheny County and also Philadelphia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegheny County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Philadelphia 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 Merion Park

Curious and Interesting Names Near Merion Park ...

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.

  • Allgates
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Allgates is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgates
  • Bywood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Bywood is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bywood
  • Carpenter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Carpenter is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
  • Cedar Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Park is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Park
  • Francisville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Francisville is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisville
  • Garden Court
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden Court is located in Philadelphia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Court
  • Grassland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Grassland is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassland
  • Hollow Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hollow Woods is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Woods
  • Kellyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellyville is located in Delaware County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellyville
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pilgrim Gardens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pilgrim Gardens is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Gardens
    • Roseglen
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Roseglen is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseglen
    • Spring Garden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Garden is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
    • Spruce Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Spruce Hill is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Hill
    • Strawberry Mansion
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Strawberry Mansion is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Mansion
    • University City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • University City is located in Philadelphia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City

How Far From Merion Park 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 Merion Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Merion Park and extending to:

  • Norristown, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Merion Park to Norristown, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 121 miles [194.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,776 miles [9,295.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,481 miles [10,430.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,358 miles [7,013.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Merion Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Merion Park 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 Merion Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9934, Longitude: -75.2510       In this case, the coordinates for Merion Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.751 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.318 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.514 degrees.