Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Meridian, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Meridian and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Meridian
- 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 Meridian:
- 47.209541, -122.717909
- 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 Meridian
- 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 Pierce County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pierce County
- Since Meridian is near Thurston County and also Mason County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Thurston County
- eBird sighting report for Mason 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 Meridian ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Meridian.
There is one other community in Washington which is also named Meridian.
Beyond Washington, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Washington ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Colusa County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Meridian [Colusa County].
- Kern County
- This Meridian is located in Kern County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Meridian.
- Santa Clara County
- This Meridian is located in Santa Clara County and lies 683 miles [1,099.2 km] to the south of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Meridian.
- Sutter County
- This Meridian is located in Sutter County and lies 558 miles [898 km] to the south of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sutter County community of Meridian.
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Gratiot County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Meridian [Gratiot County].
- Ingham County
- This Meridian is located in Ingham County and lies 1,880 miles [3,025.6 km]<1> to the east of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ingham County community of Meridian.
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Beaver County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Meridian [Beaver County].
- Logan County
- This Meridian is located in Logan County and lies 1,522 miles [2,449.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of Meridian.
- Roger Mills County
- This Meridian is located in Roger Mills County and lies 1,422 miles [2,288.5 km] to the east southeast of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roger Mills County community of Meridian.
- Stephens County
- This Meridian is located in Stephens County and lies 1,554 miles [2,500.9 km] to the east southeast of the Meridian that is located in Pierce County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephens County community of Meridian.
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Meridian ...
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.
- Castlenook ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castlenook have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlenook
- Castlenook is located in Pierce County
- Forest Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Beach
- Forest Beach is located in Pierce County
- Fox Island
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Island
- Fox Island is located in Pierce County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fox Island <5>
- Gertrude
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gertrude
- Gertrude is located in Pierce County
- Home
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
- Home is located in Pierce County
- Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Longbranch
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbranch
- Longbranch is located in Pierce County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longbranch <5>
- Pioneer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Sunrise Beach
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunrise Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Beach
- Sunrise Beach is located in Pierce County
- Sunset Beach
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Beach
- Sunset Beach is located in Pierce County
How Far From Meridian 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 Meridian to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Meridian and extending to:
- Tacoma, which is the Seat of Pierce County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Meridian to Tacoma, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,339 miles [3,764.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,805 miles [10,951.6 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 7,566 miles [12,176.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,692 miles [9,160.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Meridian. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pierce County: www.co.pierce.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
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- Meridian) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Meridian. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.2095, Longitude: -122.7179 In this case, the coordinates for Meridian have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Meridian 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. |
| <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 Meridian, 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'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 Meridian 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 341.175 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.759 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.041 degrees. |