RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Cecil County >> Tara >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tara 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 Tara:
    • 39.701500, -75.791326
    • 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 Tara
  • 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 Cecil County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cecil County
    • Since Tara is near New Castle County and also Chester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Castle County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chester 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 Tara

Communities Also Named Tara ...

We found ten communities that are also named Tara.

There is one other community in Maryland that is also named Tara.

Beyond Maryland, 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 Maryland ...
    • Anne Arundel County
      • This Tara is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Tara.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Tara is located in Madison County and lies 686 miles [1,104 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Tara.
    • Georgia
      • Bibb County
      • This Tara is located in Bibb County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bibb County community of Tara.
      • Muscogee County
      • This Tara is located in Muscogee County and lies 713 miles [1,147.5 km] to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muscogee County community of Tara.
    • Iowa
      • Webster County
      • This Tara is located in Webster County and lies 979 miles [1,575.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webster County community of Tara.
    • Louisiana
      • East Baton Rouge Parish
      • This Tara is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and lies 1,073 miles [1,726.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Baton Rouge Parish community of Tara.
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis 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 Missouri community of Tara [Saint Louis County].
    • North Dakota
      • Steele 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 North Dakota community of Tara [Steele County].
    • Ontario
      • This Tara lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
    • Virginia
      • Arlington County
      • This Tara is located in Arlington County and lies 91 miles [146.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Cecil County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arlington County community of Tara.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tara ...

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.

  • Cherry Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cherry Hill is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
  • College Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • College Park is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Park
  • Covered Bridge Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Covered Bridge Farms is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covered Bridge Farms
  • Foxfield
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Foxfield is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfield
  • Glen Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Glen Farms is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Farms
  • Grand Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Grand Meadows is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Meadows
  • Greenridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Greenridge is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
  • Hillcrest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillcrest is located in Cecil County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Hunting Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hunting Hills is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hills
  • Mechanicsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Mechanicsville is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Top of the Wedge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Top of the Wedge is located in New Castle County (DE)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Top of the Wedge

How Far From Tara 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 Tara to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Tara and extending to:

  • Elkton, which is the Seat of Cecil County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Tara to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 86 miles [138.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,811 miles [9,351.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,516 miles [10,486.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,393 miles [7,069.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tara) 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Tara 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>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.
<4>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 Tara 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 Tara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7015, Longitude: -75.7913       In this case, the coordinates for Tara have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.096 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.663 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.867 degrees.