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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 Blue River (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 Blue River. 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 Blue River ...

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 Blue River: Blue Riv.

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.

Blue River is located in Lane County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lane County: Benton, Deschutes, Douglas, Klamath, Lincoln & Linn.

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

  • Lane County     (The home county of Blue River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Finn Rock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • McKenzie Bridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Vida
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Belknap Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belknap Springs
      • Belknap Springs is located in Lane County
    • Leaburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Walterville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Marcola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Unity
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fall Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Creek
      • Fall Creek is located in Lane County
    • Lowell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakridge
      • Oakridge is located in Lane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,384 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakridge <1>
    • Westfir
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Dexter
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Linn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue River, with the one closest to Blue River listed first.
    • Cascadia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Foster
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sweet Home
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Home have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Home
      • Sweet Home is located in Linn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sweet Home <1>
    • Holley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holley
      • Holley is located in Linn County
    • Crawfordsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bryant City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bryant City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant City
      • Bryant City is located in Linn County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Blue River ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue River.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Blue River. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Blue River and those printed in the larger area surrounding Blue River.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Blue River.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Blue River:

Cemeteries Near Blue River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue River.

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 Blue River covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Renfrew Grave
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Renfrew Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Renfrew Grave
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Wiley Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wiley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wiley Cemetery
  • Whitcomb Island Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitcomb Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitcomb Island Cemetery
  • Sweet Home Valley Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweet Home Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweet Home Valley Cemetery
  • Drury Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Drury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Drury Cemetery
  • Spring Family Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Family Cemetery
  • Lewis Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lewis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lewis Cemetery
  • Mabel Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mabel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mabel Cemetery
  • Craig Grave
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Craig Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Craig Grave
  • Camp Creek Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Creek Cemetery
  • Ames Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Marcola Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marcola Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marcola Cemetery
    • Fall Creek Christian Church Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fall Creek Christian Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fall Creek Christian Church Cemetery
    • Hyland Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Blue River had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Foley Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foley Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley Springs
    • Foley Springs is located in Lane County
  • Belknap Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belknap Springs
    • Belknap Springs is located in Lane County
  • Leaburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Walterville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Sweet Home
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Home have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Home
    • Sweet Home is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,021 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sweet Home <1>
  • Holley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holley
    • Holley is located in Linn County
  • Lowell
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Mohawk
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mohawk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk
    • Mohawk is located in Lane County
  • Thurston
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Trent
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent
    • Trent is located in Lane County
  • Dexter
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Crawfordsville
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

The official website for Lane County: www.lanecounty.org/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/

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>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 from Point A (ie- Blue River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1544, Longitude: -122.3392    
<4>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.
<5>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 Blue River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024