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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 Alton (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 Alton. 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.

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.

Alton is located in Bear Lake 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 Bear Lake County: Caribou, Franklin, Rich (UT) & Lincoln (WY).

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

  • Bear Lake County     (The home county of Alton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alton, with the one closest to Alton listed first.
    • Dingle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Border
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Border have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border
      • Border is located in Bear Lake County
    • Wardboro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardboro
      • Wardboro is located in Bear Lake County
    • Montpelier
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Paris
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
      • Paris is located in Bear Lake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 517 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paris <1>
    • Bloomington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bennington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bear Lake County
    • Bern
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Charles
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fish Haven
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgetown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Rich County (UT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alton, with the one closest to Alton listed first.
    • Garden City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Pickelville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickelville
      • Pickelville is located in Rich County (UT)
    • Garden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden
      • Garden is located in Rich County (UT)
    • Laketown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Meadowville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowville
      • Meadowville is located in Rich County (UT)
  • Lincoln County (WY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alton, with the one closest to Alton listed first.
    • Border
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Border. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border
      • Border is located in Lincoln County (WY)
    • Taylor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Taylor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Taylor is located in Lincoln County (WY)
    • Cokeville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Smoot
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Alton ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alton, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Alton:

Cemeteries Near Alton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alton.

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

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

  • Dingle Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Raymond Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Raymond Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Raymond Cemetery
  • Geneva Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Geneva Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Geneva Cemetery
  • Montpelier City Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bennington Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Ovid Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ovid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ovid Cemetery
  • Lanark Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Cokeville Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Smith Fork Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • St. Charles Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Cemetery
  • Nounan Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nounan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nounan Cemetery
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Garden City Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Skinner Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skinner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skinner Cemetery
    • Meadowville Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 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.<6>

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

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

  • Dingle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Border
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Border have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border
    • Border is located in Bear Lake County
  • Montpelier
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Paris
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
    • Paris is located in Bear Lake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 517 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paris <1>
  • Bloomington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Ovid
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ovid have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovid
    • Ovid is located in Bear Lake County
  • Saint Charles
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Cokeville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Liberty is located in Bear Lake County
  • Fish Haven
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Georgetown
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Novene
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Novene have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novene
    • Novene is located in Bear Lake County
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Garden City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadowville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowville
      • Meadowville is located in Rich County (UT)
    • Laketown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

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

The official website for Bear Lake County: www.bearlakecounty.info/

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2274, Longitude: -111.1516       In this case, the coordinates for Alton 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 Alton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024