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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 Little Rock (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 Little Rock. 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.

Little Rock is located in Gem County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Gem County: Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Payette, Valley & Washington.

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

  • Gem County     (The home county of Little Rock)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Letha
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bramwell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bramwell is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramwell
    • Emmett
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Montour
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Montour is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour
    • Sweet
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Pearl
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Pearl is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Ola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Ada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Star
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Meridian
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Collister
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Collister is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collister
    • Boise Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Boise Junction is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise Junction
  • Boise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Brownlee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Brownlee is located in Boise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Banks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Canyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Sand Hollow
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Sand Hollow is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hollow
    • Middleton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Notus
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Parma
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Apple Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Apple Valley is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
    • Caldwell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Greenleaf
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Weitz
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Weitz is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weitz
    • Roswell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Roswell is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
    • Wilder
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Huston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Nampa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Nampa is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nampa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103,215 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nampa <1>
  • Owyhee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Homedale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Marsing
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Payette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • New Plymouth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckingham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Buckingham is located in Payette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Fruitland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Washoe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Washoe is located in Payette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washoe
    • Payette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Washington County
    • Weiser
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Weiser is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weiser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,463 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weiser <1>
  • Malheur County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Little Rock, with the one closest to Little Rock listed first.
    • Ontario
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Ontario is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ontario <1>
    • Nyssa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Nyssa is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyssa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,231 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nyssa <1>
    • Owyhee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
    • Adrian
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Adrian is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adrian <1>
    • Vale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Vale is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vale <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Little Rock ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Little Rock.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Little Rock - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Little Rock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Falk Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Bramwell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Kennedy Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Parkview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Emmett.
    • The Riverside Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Emmett Cemetery
    • Martinville Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80457 <2>
  • Lower Boise Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Middleton Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Parma Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Canyon Hill Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Washoe Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (34 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Payette.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80623 <2>
    • Nyssa Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Roswell Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.<3>

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

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

  • Notus
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Middleton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Parma
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ontario
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ontario is located in Malheur County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,140 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ontario <1>
  • Nyssa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Nyssa is located in Malheur County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyssa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,231 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nyssa <1>
  • Payette
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Caldwell
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Star
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Sweet
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Owyhee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
    • Nampa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Nampa is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nampa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103,215 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nampa <1>
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Weiser
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Weiser is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weiser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,463 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weiser <1>
    • Ola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Vale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Vale is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,806 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vale <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Little Rock ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Little Rock.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Little Rock, 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 Little Rock.

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 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 Little Rock:

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 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.
<3>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 Little Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Little Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.