RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Arlington 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:
    • 38.890389, -77.134979
    • 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 Arlington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
    • Since Tara is near Fairfax County and also Falls Church City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
  • 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.

Within Virginia, the name Tara is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Madison County
      • This Tara is located in Madison County and lies 596 miles [959.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington 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 556 miles [894.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington 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 622 miles [1,001 km] to the southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington 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 930 miles [1,496.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington 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 982 miles [1,580.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the East Baton Rouge Parish community of Tara.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Tara is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<1> to the east of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Tara.
      • Cecil County
      • This Tara is located in Cecil County and lies 91 miles [146.5 km] to the northeast of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cecil County 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 437 miles [703.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Tara that is located in Arlington County.

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.

  • Cherrydale
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Cherrydale is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrydale
  • Colonial Village
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Colonial Village is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
  • Crescent Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Dominion Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Dominion Heights is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Heights
  • Dominion Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Dover
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Dover is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Falls Church
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Foxhall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Garden City
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Garden City is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Glen Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Glen Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Greenway Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Halls Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Kent Gardens
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
    • Lacey Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
    • Lee Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Lee Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Heights
    • Lyon Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Lyon Park is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Park
    • Lyon Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Lyon Village is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyon Village
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Riverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Riverwood is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Seven Corners
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Virginia Forest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Virginia Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Virginia Heights is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Heights

How Far From Tara to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers 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:

  • Arlington, which is the Seat of Arlington County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Tara to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 6 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 just to the east (E).
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,607 miles [10,632.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,484 miles [7,216.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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: 38.8904, Longitude: -77.1350       In this case, the coordinates for Tara have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.948 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.504 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.758 degrees.