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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Spirit Lake (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Spirit Lake. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for Spirit Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Spirit Lake: Spirit Lk.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Spirit Lake is located in Kootenai County.

To see how the shape of Idaho's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Kootenai County: Benewah, Bonner, Shoshone & Spokane (WA).

Below are the counties that are near Spirit Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spirit Lake:

  • Kootenai County     (The home county of Spirit Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.
    • Echo Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Beach
      • Echo Beach is located in Kootenai County
    • Athol
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Sturgeon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
      • Sturgeon is located in Kootenai County
    • Belmont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
      • Belmont is located in Kootenai County
    • Garwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garwood
      • Garwood is located in Kootenai County
    • Rathdrum
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rathdrum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathdrum
      • Rathdrum is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rathdrum <1>
    • Bayview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
      • Bayview is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bayview <1>
    • Coeur d'Alene Junction
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coeur d'Alene Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coeur d'Alene Junction
      • Coeur d'Alene Junction is located in Kootenai County
    • Hayden Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayden Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden Lake
      • Hayden Lake is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 629 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayden Lake <1>
    • Hayden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden
      • Hayden is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayden <1>
    • Hauser
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hauser have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
      • Hauser is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <1>
    • Dalton Gardens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dalton Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Gardens
      • Dalton Gardens is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,423 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dalton Gardens <1>
  • Bonner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.
    • Blanchard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanchard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard
      • Blanchard is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blanchard <1>
    • Careywood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Careywood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Careywood
      • Careywood is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Careywood <1>
    • Laclede
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laclede have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laclede
      • Laclede is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laclede <1>
    • Priest River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Cocolalla
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Oldtown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oldtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldtown
      • Oldtown is located in Bonner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oldtown <1>
    • Westmond
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmond
      • Westmond is located in Bonner County
    • Dufort
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dufort
      • Dufort is located in Bonner County
    • Cedar Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Bonner County
    • Lakeview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
      • Lakeview is located in Bonner County
    • Wrencoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrencoe
      • Wrencoe is located in Bonner County
    • Algoma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algoma
      • Algoma is located in Bonner County
  • Pend Oreille County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.
    • Newport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,266 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport <1>
    • Camden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
      • Camden is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
    • Dalkena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalkena
      • Dalkena is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
    • Usk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Spokane County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.
    • Newman Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Elk
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Peone
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone
      • Peone is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Green Bluff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bluff
      • Green Bluff is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Otis Orchards - East Farms
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Otis Orchards - East Farms. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis Orchards - East Farms
      • Otis Orchards - East Farms is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Otis Orchards
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Chattaroy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Grays Landing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Landing
      • Grays Landing is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Colbert
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenacres
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Trentwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trentwood
      • Trentwood is located in Spokane County (WA)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spirit Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Spirit Lake.

Newspapers Published in Spirit Lake ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spirit Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spirit Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spirit Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Spirit Lake:

Cemeteries Near Spirit Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spirit Lake.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spirit Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.

  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
  • Rimrock Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Seneacquoteen Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seneacquoteen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seneacquoteen Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Post Falls Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
  • Restlawn Memorial Park
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Restlawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Restlawn Memorial Park
  • Westmond Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westmond Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westmond Cemetery
  • Newport Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Newport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Newport Cemetery
  • Bestland Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bestland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bestland Cemetery
  • Drake Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Drake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Drake Cemetery
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • Riverview Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Forest Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Coeur d'Alene.
      • The Forest Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Ft. Sherman Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80471 <5>
    • Clara Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clara Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clara Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80433 <5>

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<6>

While we didn't find Spirit Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spirit Lake.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Spirit Lake, with the one closest to Spirit Lake listed first.

  • Ramsey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Ramsey is located in Kootenai County
  • Athol
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Rathdrum
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rathdrum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathdrum
    • Rathdrum is located in Kootenai County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,419 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rathdrum <1>
  • Hauser
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hauser have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
    • Hauser is located in Kootenai County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <1>
  • Cocolalla
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Priest River
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Post Falls
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Post Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Falls
    • Post Falls is located in Kootenai County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,933 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Post Falls <1>
  • Coeur d'Alene
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Peone
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone
    • Peone is located in Spokane County (WA)
  • Chattaroy
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Buckeye
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckeye have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
    • Buckeye is located in Spokane County (WA)
  • Sandpoint
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Mead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kootenai
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Deer Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spirit Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spirit Lake.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spirit Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Kootenai County: www.co.kootenai.id.us/

The official website for State of Idaho: www.state.id.us/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Spirit Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spirit Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9657, Longitude: -116.8658       In this case, the coordinates for Spirit Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<6>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 Spirit Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024