Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Merrimac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Merrimac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Merrimac
- 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 Merrimac:
- 43.373598, -89.625400
- 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 Merrimac
- 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 Sauk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sauk County
- Since Merrimac is near Columbia County and also Dane County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Columbia County
- eBird sighting report for Dane 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 Merrimac ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Merrimac.
Within Wisconsin, the name Merrimac is unique.
Beyond Wisconsin, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- Carson City
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Merrimac [Carson City].
- Ormsby County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Ormsby County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ormsby County community of Merrimac.
- Virginia
- Culpeper County
- This Merrimac is located in Culpeper County and lies 690 miles [1,110.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Merrimac that is located in Sauk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Culpeper County community of Merrimac.
- Montgomery County
- This Merrimac is located in Montgomery County and lies 645 miles [1,038 km] to the southeast of the Merrimac that is located in Sauk County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Merrimac.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Merrimac ...
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.
- Dane
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Harmony Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Harmony Grove is located in Columbia County
- Lake Wisconsin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Wisconsin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wisconsin
- Lake Wisconsin is located in Columbia County
- Lowville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Lutheran Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lutheran Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutheran Hill
- Lutheran Hill is located in Dane County
- Martinsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Martinsville is located in Dane County
- Moe Settlement ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moe Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moe Settlement
- Moe Settlement is located in Columbia County
- Moon Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moon Valley
- Moon Valley is located in Sauk County
- Portage
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Portage is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
How Far From Merrimac 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 village such as Merrimac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Merrimac and extending to:
- Baraboo, which is the Seat of Sauk County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Merrimac to Baraboo, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 722 miles [1,161.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,180 miles [9,945.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,927 miles [11,147.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,819 miles [7,755.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Merrimac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Sauk County: www.co.sauk.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Merrimac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Merrimac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3736, Longitude: -89.6254 In this case, the coordinates for Merrimac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Merrimac, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Merrimac 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. |
| <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 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 Merrimac 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 315.768 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.06 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.145 degrees. |