Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrill
- 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 Merrill:
- 26.333403, -98.125842
- 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 Merrill
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Merrill is near Willacy County and also Cameron County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Willacy County
- eBird sighting report for Cameron 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 Merrill ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Merrill.
Within Texas, the name Merrill is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrill ...
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.
- Cottonwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Cottonwood is located in Hidalgo County
- Cottonwood has also been known as:
- Cottonwood Colonia
- Edinburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburg
- Edinburg is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102,374 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edinburg <4>
- Evergreen
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Lull
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Meadow Lands
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Lands have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lands
- Meadow Lands is located in Hidalgo County
- Meadow Lands has also been known as:
- Meadow Lands Colonia
- Post Oaks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - River Bend
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
- River Bend is located in Hidalgo County
- River Bend has also been known as:
- River Bend Colonia
- Sandy Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Sandy Ridge is located in Hidalgo County
- Sandy Ridge has also been known as:
- Sandy Ridge Colonia
- Seminary Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Village
- Seminary Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Seminary Village has also been known as:
- Seminary Village Colonia
- Spring Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Gardens
- Spring Gardens is located in Hidalgo County
- Spring Gardens has also been known as:
- Spring Gardens Colonia
- Summerwood
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwood
- Summerwood is located in Hidalgo County
- Summerwood has also been known as:
- Summerwood Colonia
- Tower Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tower Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
- Tower Heights is located in Hidalgo County
- Tower Heights has also been known as:
- Tower Heights Colonia
- Twin Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
How Far From Merrill 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 Merrill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrill and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 272 miles [437.7 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Merrill to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,496 miles [2,407.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,376 miles [11,870.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,094 miles [13,026 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,969 miles [9,606.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Merrill 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Merrill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3334, Longitude: -98.1258 In this case, the coordinates for Merrill 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> | 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 Merrill 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 319.782 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.479 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.723 degrees. |