RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Washington County >> Meeker >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Meeker, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Meeker and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Meeker:
    • 43.221673, -88.173148
    • 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 Meeker
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Meeker is near Waukesha County and also Ozaukee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Waukesha County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ozaukee 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 Meeker

Communities Also Named Meeker ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Meeker.

Within Wisconsin, the name Meeker is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Garfield County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Meeker [Garfield County].
      • Rio Blanco County
      • This Meeker is located in Rio Blanco County and lies 1,039 miles [1,672.1 km]<2> to the west of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rio Blanco County community of Meeker.
    • Louisiana
      • Rapides Parish
      • This Meeker is located in Rapides Parish and lies 871 miles [1,401.7 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rapides Parish community of Meeker.
    • Ohio
      • Darke County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Meeker [Darke County].
      • Marion County
      • This Meeker is located in Marion County and lies 306 miles [492.5 km]<2> to the southeast of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Meeker.
    • Oklahoma
      • Lincoln County
      • This Meeker is located in Lincoln County and lies 707 miles [1,137.8 km]<2> to the southwest of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Meeker.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Luzerne County
      • This Meeker is located in Luzerne County and lies 631 miles [1,015.5 km]<2> to the east of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Luzerne County community of Meeker.
    • Texas
      • Jefferson County
      • This Meeker is located in Jefferson County and lies 967 miles [1,556.2 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Meeker.
    • Washington
      • Pierce County
      • This Meeker is located in Pierce County and lies 1,667 miles [2,682.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Meeker.
      • Whitman County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Meeker [Whitman County].
    • West Virginia
      • Tyler County
      • This Meeker is located in Tyler County and lies 462 miles [743.5 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Meeker that is located in Washington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tyler County community of Meeker.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Meeker ...

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.

  • Butler
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Butler is located in Waukesha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,795 people
  • Cedar Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Creek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
  • Fussville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fussville is located in Waukesha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fussville
  • Lake Five
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Five is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Five
  • Marcy
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Marcy is located in Waukesha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
  • Rockfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockfield is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockfield
  • Rugby Junction
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rugby Junction is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby Junction
  • Victory Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Victory Center is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Center
  • Willow Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Willow Creek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Creek
  • Willow Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Willow Springs is located in Waukesha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Meeker and extending to:

  • West Bend, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Meeker to West Bend, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 651 miles [1,047.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,137 miles [9,876.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,880 miles [11,072.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,768 miles [7,673.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Meeker 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- Meeker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Meeker 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 Meeker. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2217, Longitude: -88.1731       In this case, the coordinates for Meeker have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.784 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.919 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.442 degrees.