Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merle and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merle
- 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 Merle:
- 30.449373, -96.462466
- 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 Merle
- 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 Burleson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Burleson County
- Since Merle is near Brazos County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brazos County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Merle ...
We found four communities that share the name Merle.
Within Texas, the name Merle is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Iowa
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Oregon
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merle ...
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 Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Center Line
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Line have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Line
- Center Line is located in Burleson County
- Chances Store
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chances Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chances Store
- Chances Store is located in Burleson County
- Clay
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
- Clay is located in Burleson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clay <4>
- Gay Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay Hill
- Gay Hill is located in Washington County
- Harmony
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Independence
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Washington County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <4>
- Lyons
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Lyons is located in Burleson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyons <4>
- Quarry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarry
- Quarry is located in Washington County
- Snook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snook
- Snook is located in Burleson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Snook <4>
- Spear
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Wicker
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Merle 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 Merle 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<5> community of Merle once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Merle and extending to:
- Caldwell, which is the Seat of Burleson County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Merle to Caldwell, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 77 miles [123.9 km] to the west (W). 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 1,244 miles [2,002 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 49 days and walking would take 71 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,094 miles [11,416.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,820 miles [12,585.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,696 miles [9,166.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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 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 Merle 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 '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- Merle) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4494, Longitude: -96.4625 In this case, the coordinates for Merle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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 Merle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Merle 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 319.401 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.555 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.752 degrees. |