RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Desha County >> Parma >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Parma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Parma 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 Parma:
    • 33.965379, -91.545958
    • 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 Parma
  • 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 Desha County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Desha County
    • Since Parma is near Lincoln County and also Arkansas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arkansas 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 Parma

Communities Also Named Parma ...

We found ten communities that are also named Parma.

There is one other community in Arkansas that is also named Parma.

Beyond Arkansas, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Located In Arkansas ...
    • Stone County
      • This Parma is located in Stone County and lies 126 miles [202.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stone County community of Parma.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Alamosa County
      • This Parma is located in Alamosa County and lies 847 miles [1,363.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alamosa County community of Parma.
      • Conejos 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 Colorado community of Parma [Conejos County].
    • Idaho
      • Canyon County
      • This Parma is located in Canyon County and lies 1,515 miles [2,438.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Canyon County community of Parma.
    • Kansas
      • Norton County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Norton County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Norton County community of Parma.
    • Michigan
      • Jackson County
      • This Parma is located in Jackson County and lies 685 miles [1,102.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Parma.
    • Missouri
      • New Madrid County
      • This Parma is located in New Madrid County and lies 207 miles [333.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Madrid County community of Parma.
    • New York
      • Monroe 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 New York community of Parma [Monroe County].
    • Ohio
      • Cuyahoga County
      • This Parma is located in Cuyahoga County and lies 741 miles [1,192.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Parma that is located in Desha County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cuyahoga County community of Parma.
    • Ontario
      • 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 Ontario community of Parma.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Parma ...

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.

  • Back Gate
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Back Gate is located in Desha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Back Gate
  • Bicker Crossing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bicker Crossing is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bicker Crossing
  • Champion ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Champion is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
  • Fish Dock ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fish Dock is located in Arkansas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Dock
  • Four Groves ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Four Groves is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Groves
  • Gourd
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Gourd is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gourd
  • Jones Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jones Ferry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Ferry
  • Pickens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pickens is located in Desha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickens
  • Reedville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Reedville is located in Desha County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedville
  • Rose Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Rose Hill is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Silt ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Silt is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silt

How Far From Parma 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 Parma 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 community of Parma once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Parma and extending to:

  • Arkansas City, which is the Seat of Desha County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Parma to Arkansas City, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Little Rock, which is the State Capital of Arkansas, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 873 miles [1,405 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 50 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,722 miles [10,818 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,445 miles [11,981.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,321 miles [8,563.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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- Parma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 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 Parma 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 Parma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>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 Parma 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 Parma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9654, Longitude: -91.5460       In this case, the coordinates for Parma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.646 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.79 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.186 degrees.