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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Tacoma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tacoma 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 Tacoma:
- 44.192295, -69.969217
- 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 Tacoma
- 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 Kennebec County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kennebec County
- Since Tacoma is near Androscoggin County and also Sagadahoc County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Androscoggin County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sagadahoc 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 Tacoma
Communities Also Named Tacoma ...
We found eight communities that are also named Tacoma.
Within Maine, the name Tacoma is unique.
Beyond Maine, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- La Plata County
- This Tacoma is located in La Plata County and lies 2,008 miles [3,231.6 km]<1> to the west of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Plata County community of Tacoma.
- Florida
- Alachua County
- This Tacoma is located in Alachua County and lies 1,217 miles [1,958.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alachua County community of Tacoma.
- Nevada
- Elko County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in Elko County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elko County community of Tacoma.
- New York
- Delaware County
- This Tacoma is located in Delaware County and lies 299 miles [481.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Tacoma.
- Ohio
- Belmont County
- This Tacoma is located in Belmont County and lies 641 miles [1,031.6 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Tacoma.
- Texas
- Panola County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Tacoma [Panola County].
- Virginia
- Wise County
- This Tacoma is located in Wise County and lies 826 miles [1,329.3 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Tacoma.
- Washington
- Pierce County
- This Tacoma is located in Pierce County and lies 2,490 miles [4,007.3 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Tacoma that is located in Kennebec County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pierce County community of Tacoma.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Tacoma ...
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.
- Drinkwater Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Drinkwater Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drinkwater Corner
- Frenchs Corner
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Frenchs Corner is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchs Corner
- Greene
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Greene Corner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Greene Corner is located in Androscoggin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene Corner
- Island Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Island Park is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Park
- Libby Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Libby Hill is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby Hill
- Purgatory
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Purgatory is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purgatory
- Ring Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Ring Hill is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ring Hill
- Spears Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Spears Corner is located in Kennebec County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spears Corner
- Starbird Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Starbird Corner is located in Sagadahoc County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starbird Corner
How Far From Tacoma 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 Tacoma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Tacoma and extending to:
- Augusta, which is the Seat of Kennebec County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Tacoma to Augusta, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 516 miles [830.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 30 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,388 miles [8,671.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,101 miles [9,818.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,976 miles [6,398.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Tacoma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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 Tacoma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Tacoma 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Tacoma 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 Tacoma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1923, Longitude: -69.9692 In this case, the coordinates for Tacoma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.014 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 298.806 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 299.088 degrees. |
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