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The Commemorative Quarter for Utah





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 West Portal (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 West Portal. 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 West Portal ...

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 West Portal: W. Portal

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

West Portal is located in Utah County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Utah County: Carbon, Duchesne, Juab, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Tooele & Wasatch.

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

  • Utah County     (The home county of West Portal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Mill Fork ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Fork
      • Mill Fork is located in Utah County
    • Tucker ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tucker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
      • Tucker is located in Utah County
      • Former name for Tucker:
      • Clear Creek
    • Thistle ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
      • Thistle is located in Utah County
    • Mapleton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mapleton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
      • Mapleton is located in Utah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,139 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mapleton <2>
    • Covered Bridge Canyon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Ironton ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ironton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironton
      • Ironton is located in Utah County
    • Springville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Vivian Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vivian Park
      • Vivian Park is located in Utah County
    • Spanish Fork
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Fork
      • Spanish Fork is located in Utah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,268 people
      • Spanish Fork has also been known as:
      • Spanish Fork City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spanish Fork <2>
    • Birdseye
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
      • Birdseye is located in Utah County
      • Former names for Birdseye:
      • Clinton
      • Summit Basin
    • Provo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Provo
      • Provo is located in Utah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116,295 people
      • Former names for Provo:
      • Fort Provo
      • Fort Utah
      • Provo has also been known as:
      • Provo City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Provo <2>
    • Christmas City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Christmas City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christmas City
      • Christmas City is located in Utah County
    • Olmstead
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olmstead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olmstead
      • Olmstead is located in Utah County
  • Carbon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Scofield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scofield
      • Scofield is located in Carbon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • Winter Quarters ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winter Quarters have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Quarters
      • Winter Quarters is located in Carbon County
  • Duchesne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Fruitland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
      • Fruitland is located in Duchesne County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitland <2>
    • Hanna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Stockmore ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stockmore. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockmore
      • Stockmore is located in Duchesne County
  • Emery County
    • Hale ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
      • Hale is located in Emery County
  • Summit County
    • Woodland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
      • Woodland is located in Summit County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodland <2>
  • Wasatch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Wallsburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallsburg
      • Wallsburg is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
      • Former names for Wallsburg:
      • Little Warm Valley
      • Round Valley
      • Wallsburg Fort
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallsburg <2>
    • Soldier Summit ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier Summit
      • Soldier Summit is located in Wasatch County
    • Independence
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Timber Lakes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lakes
      • Timber Lakes is located in Wasatch County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timber Lakes <2>
    • Daniel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel
      • Daniel is located in Wasatch County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 1,058 people
    • Charleston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charleston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Charleston is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
    • Heber City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heber City
      • Heber City is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,574 people
      • Heber City has also been known as:
      • Heber
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heber City <2>
    • Midway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Midway is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Midway <2>
    • Interlaken
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
      • Interlaken is located in Wasatch County
    • Mound City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
      • Mound City is located in Wasatch County

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

Newspapers Published in West Portal ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Portal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Portal, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Portal.

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 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 West Portal:

Cemeteries Near West Portal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Portal.

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 West Portal covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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

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

  • Mill Fork ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Fork
    • Mill Fork is located in Utah County
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tucker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Utah County
    • Former name for Tucker:
    • Clear Creek
  • Tucker ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tucker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Utah County
    • Former name for Tucker:
    • Clear Creek
  • Thistle ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Thistle is located in Utah County
  • Soldier Summit ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldier Summit
    • Soldier Summit is located in Wasatch County
  • Wallsburg
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallsburg
    • Wallsburg is located in Wasatch County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
    • Former names for Wallsburg:
    • Little Warm Valley
    • Round Valley
    • Wallsburg Fort
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallsburg <2>
  • Springville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Spanish Fork
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Fork
    • Spanish Fork is located in Utah County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,268 people
    • Spanish Fork has also been known as:
    • Spanish Fork City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spanish Fork <2>
  • Provo
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Provo
    • Provo is located in Utah County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 116,295 people
    • Former names for Provo:
    • Fort Provo
    • Fort Utah
    • Provo has also been known as:
    • Provo City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Provo <2>
  • Salem
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Charleston
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charleston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
    • Charleston is located in Wasatch County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
  • Colton ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colton
    • Colton is located in Utah County
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Lakeview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
      • Lakeview is located in Utah County
    • Heber City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heber City
      • Heber City is located in Wasatch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,574 people
      • Heber City has also been known as:
      • Heber
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heber City <2>
    • Lake Shore
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
      • Lake Shore is located in Utah County

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

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

The official website for Utah County: www.co.utah.ut.us/

The official website for State of Utah: https://www.utah.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Portal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Portal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1611, Longitude: -111.2505       In this case, the coordinates for West Portal 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 West Portal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024