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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 Helmer (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 Helmer. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Helmer is located in Latah 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 Latah County: Benewah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Shoshone & Whitman (WA).

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

  • Latah County     (The home county of Helmer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Deary
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deary
      • Deary is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 531 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deary <2>
    • Bovill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bovill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bovill
      • Bovill is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bovill <2>
    • Linden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Linden is located in Latah County
    • Harvard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
      • Harvard is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvard <2>
    • Troy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Troy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
      • Troy is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 913 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <2>
    • Kendrick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kendrick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendrick
      • Kendrick is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kendrick <2>
    • Howell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Howell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
      • Howell is located in Latah County
    • Princeton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Princeton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
      • Princeton is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Princeton <2>
    • Juliaetta
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Lenville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lenville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenville
      • Lenville is located in Latah County
    • Onaway
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onaway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Onaway is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Potlatch
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Benewah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Fernwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fernwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernwood
      • Fernwood is located in Benewah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fernwood <2>
    • Emida
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emida
      • Emida is located in Benewah County
    • Santa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Clearwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Elk River
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk River
      • Elk River is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk River <2>
    • Teakean
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teakean
      • Teakean is located in Clearwater County
    • Five Corners ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
      • Five Corners is located in Clearwater County
    • Ahsahka
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Orofino
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orofino have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orofino
      • Orofino is located in Clearwater County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orofino <2>
  • Nez Perce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Cameron
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
      • Cameron is located in Nez Perce County
    • Cavendish
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavendish
      • Cavendish is located in Nez Perce County
    • Lenore
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenore
      • Lenore is located in Nez Perce County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenore <2>
    • Cherrylane
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrylane
      • Cherrylane is located in Nez Perce County
    • Peck
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peck
      • Peck is located in Nez Perce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peck <2>
    • Spalding
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spalding have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spalding
      • Spalding is located in Nez Perce County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spalding <2>
    • Culdesac
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Culdesac have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culdesac
      • Culdesac is located in Nez Perce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Culdesac <2>
    • North Lapwai
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Shoshone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Clarkia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Emerald Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Creek
      • Emerald Creek is located in Shoshone County
  • Whitman County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helmer, with the one closest to Helmer listed first.
    • Palouse
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palouse
      • Palouse is located in Whitman County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,055 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palouse <2>
    • Grinnell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grinnell
      • Grinnell is located in Whitman County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Helmer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Helmer.

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

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

  • Bovill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Crest Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Crest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Crest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dry Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Wild Rose Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wild Rose Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wild Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gold Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gold Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gold Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethany Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Bear Ridge Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Spencer Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spencer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spencer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burnt Ridge Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burnt Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burnt Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Three Pines Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...
    • Beulah Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kendrick Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kendrick Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kendrick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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

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

  • Linden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
    • Linden is located in Latah County
  • Southwick
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwick
    • Southwick is located in Nez Perce County
  • Cameron
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cameron is located in Nez Perce County
  • Kendrick
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kendrick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendrick
    • Kendrick is located in Latah County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kendrick <2>
  • Howell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Howell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
    • Howell is located in Latah County
  • Leland
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
    • Leland is located in Nez Perce County
  • Juliaetta
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Cornwall
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cornwall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall
    • Cornwall is located in Latah County
  • Joel
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joel
    • Joel is located in Latah County
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lenville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lenville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenville
      • Lenville is located in Latah County
    • Santa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Moscow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moscow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
      • Moscow is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moscow <2>
    • Viola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Viola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
      • Viola is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Viola <2>
    • Genesee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genesee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genesee
      • Genesee is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 976 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Genesee <2>
    • Palouse
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palouse
      • Palouse is located in Whitman County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,055 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palouse <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Helmer ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Helmer.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Helmer, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Helmer.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Helmer:

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

The official website for Latah County: www.latah.id.us/

The official website for State of Idaho: https://idaho.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>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 Helmer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Helmer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helmer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.8007, Longitude: -116.4702       In this case, the coordinates for Helmer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025