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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Tara (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Tara. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Tara is located in Webster County.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Webster County: Boone, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, Humboldt, Pocahontas & Wright.

Below are the counties that are near Tara. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Tara:

  • Webster County     (The home county of Tara)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Barnum
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Moorland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland
      • Moorland is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moorland <2>
    • Fort Dodge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Clare
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
      • Clare is located in Webster County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
    • Cypsum City ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypsum City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypsum City
      • Cypsum City is located in Webster County
    • Callender
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Coalville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kalo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Otho
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Badger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Slifer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Evanston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Boone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Boxholm
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boxholm have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxholm
      • Boxholm is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boxholm <2>
    • Pilot Mound
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fraser
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fraser have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fraser
      • Fraser is located in Boone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Knierim
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knierim have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knierim
      • Knierim is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
    • Somers
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers
      • Somers is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Manson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manson
      • Manson is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,529 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manson <2>
    • Rinard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rinard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinard
      • Rinard is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • Farnhamville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farnhamville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnhamville
      • Farnhamville is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
    • Twin Lakes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Rands
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rands. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rands
      • Rands is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rands
      • From Tara to Rands
    • Rockwell City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Pomeroy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pomeroy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomeroy
      • Pomeroy is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pomeroy <2>
    • Lohrville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jolley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Sherwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sherwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
      • Sherwood is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sherwood
      • From Tara to Sherwood
  • Carroll County
    • Lanesboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesboro
      • Lanesboro is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 108 people
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Paton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Churdan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dana
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
      • Dana is located in Greene County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 67 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dana
      • From Tara to Dana
    • Farlin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farlin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farlin
      • Farlin is located in Greene County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farlin
      • From Tara to Farlin
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Webster City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webster City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster City
      • Webster City is located in Hamilton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Webster City <2>
    • Stratford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Stratford is located in Hamilton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stratford <2>
    • Kamrar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Stanhope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanhope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanhope
      • Stanhope is located in Hamilton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
  • Humboldt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Pioneer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Humboldt
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Dakota City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Rutland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Gilmore City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilmore City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore City
      • Gilmore City is located in Humboldt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilmore City <2>
    • Thor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bradgate
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradgate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradgate
      • Bradgate is located in Humboldt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Arnold
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arnold. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Humboldt County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arnold
      • From Tara to Arnold
    • Hardy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bode
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Livermore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Livermore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
      • Livermore is located in Humboldt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
    • Ottosen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottosen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottosen
      • Ottosen is located in Humboldt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
  • Kossuth County
    • Lu Verne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lu Verne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lu Verne
      • Lu Verne is located in Kossuth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lu Verne <2>
  • Pocahontas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.
    • Palmer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
      • Palmer is located in Pocahontas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmer <2>
    • Pocahontas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pocahontas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
      • Pocahontas is located in Pocahontas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,630 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocahontas <2>
    • Rolfe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fonda
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Havelock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Havelock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
      • Havelock is located in Pocahontas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Havelock <2>
    • Plover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wright County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Tara, see our County-by-County Page for Tara.

Cemeteries Near Tara ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tara.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Tara covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Tara had a population of 108 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Tara, with the one closest to Tara listed first.

  • Barnum
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Moorland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moorland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorland
    • Moorland is located in Webster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moorland <2>
  • Clare
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clare have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
    • Clare is located in Webster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
  • Fort Dodge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Callender
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Otho
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Kalo
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Coalville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
    • Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
  • Badger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Evanston
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Judd
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Judd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judd
    • Judd is located in Webster County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Manson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manson
      • Manson is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,529 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manson <2>
    • Burnside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Border Plains
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Tara. See our List of 1890's Communities around Tara.

Newspapers Published in Tara ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 150 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tara.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tara, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tara.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Tara:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Tara. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Webster County: www.webstercountyia.org/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>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 Tara, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tara) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5000, Longitude: -94.2959    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025