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.
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
Cherokee County
This Taft is located in Cherokee County and lies 235 miles [378.2 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cherokee County community of Taft.
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
Kern County
This Taft is located in Kern County and lies 1,985 miles [3,194.5 km]<1> to the west of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Taft.
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
Cook 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 Illinois community of Taft [Cook County].
Kansas
Scott 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 Kansas community of Taft [Scott County].
Louisiana
Saint Charles Parish
This Taft is located in Saint Charles Parish and lies 639 miles [1,028.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Charles Parish community of Taft.
Michigan
Iosco 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 Michigan community of Taft [Iosco County].
Minnesota
Saint Louis County
This Taft is located in Saint Louis County and lies 797 miles [1,282.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Taft.
Missouri
Butler County
This Taft is located in Butler County and lies 381 miles [613.2 km]<1> to the west of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of Taft.
Montana
Mineral County
This Taft is located in Mineral County and lies 1,753 miles [2,821.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mineral County community of Taft.
Nevada
White Pine County
This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Taft [White Pine County].
New Mexico
DeBaca County
This community is historic<3> and although located in DeBaca County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the DeBaca County community of Taft.
North Dakota
Traill County
This Taft is located in Traill County and lies 972 miles [1,564.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Traill County community of Taft.
Ohio
Hamilton 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 Ohio community of Taft [Hamilton County].
Oklahoma
Muskogee County
This Taft is located in Muskogee County and lies 666 miles [1,071.8 km]<1> to the west of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskogee County community of Taft.
Oregon
Lincoln County
This Taft is located in Lincoln County and lies 2,137 miles [3,439.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Taft.
South Carolina
Williamsburg County
This Taft is located in Williamsburg County and lies 345 miles [555.2 km]<1> to the southeast of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Williamsburg County community of Taft.
Tennessee
Lincoln County
This Taft is located in Lincoln County and lies 233 miles [375 km]<1> to the southwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Taft.
Texas
San Patricio County
This Taft is located in San Patricio County and lies 1,024 miles [1,648 km]<1> to the southwest of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Patricio County community of Taft.
Virginia
Lancaster County
This Taft is located in Lancaster County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km]<1> to the east of the Taft that is located in Owsley County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lancaster County community of Taft.
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.
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 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:
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>
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 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.