Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Taft, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Taft and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Taft
- 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 Taft:
- 37.361478, -83.686583
- 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 Taft
- 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 Owsley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Owsley County
- Since Taft is near Clay County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Taft ...
We found 22 communities that share the name Taft.
Within Kentucky, the name Taft is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another 22 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 22 communities, 21 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- British Columbia
- This Taft lies 1,944 miles [3,128.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
- California
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- This Taft is located in Hillsborough County and lies 652 miles [1,049.3 km]<1> to the south of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Taft.
- Orange County
- This Taft is located in Orange County and lies 631 miles [1,015.5 km] to the south southeast of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Taft.
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Taft ...
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.
- Bishop Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bishop Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Bend
- Bishop Bend is located in Clay County
- Blake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Chestnut Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Gap
- Chestnut Gap is located in Owsley County
- Chestnutburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnutburg have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnutburg
- Chestnutburg is located in Clay County
- Cowcreek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Island City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Island City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island City
- Island City is located in Owsley County
- Lucky Fork
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lucky Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucky Fork
- Lucky Fork is located in Owsley County
- Major
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Mistletoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Ricetown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Sourwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Sturgeon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Union
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Whoopflarea
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whoopflarea have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whoopflarea
- Whoopflarea is located in Owsley County
How Far From Taft 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 Taft to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Taft and extending to:
- Booneville, which is the Seat of Owsley County, lies just to the North.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Taft to Frankfort, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 376 miles [605.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,242 miles [10,045.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,958 miles [11,197.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,833 miles [7,778 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Taft. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.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- Taft) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Taft. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3615, Longitude: -83.6866 In this case, the coordinates for Taft 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 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 Taft 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 Taft, 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 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 Taft 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 311.919 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.807 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.047 degrees. |