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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 Oak Springs (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 Oak Springs. 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 Oak Springs ...

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 Oak Springs: Oak Spgs. (or less commonly used: Oak Spngs. or Oak Sprngs.)

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Oak Springs is located in Wasco 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 Wasco County: Clackamas, Gilliam, Hood River, Jefferson, Marion, Sherman, Wheeler & Klickitat (WA).

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

  • Wasco County     (The home county of Oak Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Springs, with the one closest to Oak Springs listed first.
    • Maupin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maupin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maupin
      • Maupin is located in Wasco County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maupin <2>
    • Tygh Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Wamic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wamic have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamic
      • Wamic is located in Wasco County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wamic <2>
    • Kingsley ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
      • Kingsley is located in Wasco County
    • Pine Hollow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hollow
      • Pine Hollow is located in Wasco County
    • Wapinitia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wapinitia
      • Wapinitia is located in Wasco County
    • Nansene
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nansene have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nansene
      • Nansene is located in Wasco County
    • Friend ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friend
      • Friend is located in Wasco County
    • Pine Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
      • Pine Grove is located in Wasco County
    • Dufur
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Boyd ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Wasco County
    • Rice ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Wasco County
  • Jackson County
    • Pinehurst
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
      • Pinehurst is located in Jackson County
  • Sherman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Springs, with the one closest to Oak Springs listed first.
    • Grass Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Valley
      • Grass Valley is located in Sherman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Valley <2>
    • Kent
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Rosebush ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosebush have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebush
      • Rosebush is located in Sherman County
    • Moro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moro
      • Moro is located in Sherman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moro <2>
    • Gordon ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gordon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
      • Gordon is located in Sherman County
    • De Moss Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Moss Springs
      • De Moss Springs is located in Sherman County
    • Monkland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monkland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkland
      • Monkland is located in Sherman County
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Springs, with the one closest to Oak Springs listed first.
    • Dallesport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Wishram
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Springs ...

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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Springs, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Oak Springs:

Cemeteries Near Oak Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Springs.

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 Oak Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • IOOF Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Warner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warner Cemetery
  • Tygh Valley Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tygh Valley Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Tygh Valley.
    • The Tygh Valley Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tygh Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tygh Valley Pioneer Cemetery
  • Kelly Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelly Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelly Cemetery
  • Buzan Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Wamic Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wamic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wamic Cemetery
  • Graveyard Butte Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graveyard Butte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graveyard Butte Cemetery
  • Wapinitia Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wapinitia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wapinitia Cemetery
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • Kingsley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kingsley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kingsley Cemetery
  • Criterion Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Criterion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Criterion Cemetery
  • Friend Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • Michigan Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Henderson Pioneer Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henderson Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henderson Pioneer Cemetery
    • Bakeoven Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bakeoven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bakeoven Cemetery

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 Oak Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oak Springs.

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

  • Tygh Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Wamic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wamic have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamic
    • Wamic is located in Wasco County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wamic <2>
  • Kingsley ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
    • Kingsley is located in Wasco County
  • Wapinitia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wapinitia
    • Wapinitia is located in Wasco County
  • Nansene
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nansene have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nansene
    • Nansene is located in Wasco County
  • Bakeoven
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bakeoven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakeoven
    • Bakeoven is located in Wasco County
  • Dufur
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Grass Valley
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Valley
    • Grass Valley is located in Sherman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Valley <2>
  • Boyd ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
    • Boyd is located in Wasco County
  • Kent
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Rutledge
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rutledge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
    • Rutledge is located in Sherman County
  • Moro
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moro
    • Moro is located in Sherman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moro <2>
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • The Dalles
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Antelope
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • De Moss Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Moss Springs
      • De Moss Springs is located in Sherman County

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

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

The official website for Wasco County: www.co.wasco.or.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2207, Longitude: -121.0823       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Springs 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 Oak Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024