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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 Nampa (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 Nampa. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Nampa is located in Canyon 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 Canyon County: Ada, Gem, Owyhee, Payette & Malheur (OR).

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

  • Canyon County     (The home county of Nampa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa listed first.
    • Kings Corner
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Caldwell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bowmont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Middleton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Weitz
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverside
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Huston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huston
      • Huston is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huston <1>
    • Greenleaf
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Melba
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melba have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
      • Melba is located in Canyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melba <1>
    • Notus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Notus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notus
      • Notus is located in Canyon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Notus <1>
    • Walters Ferry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Sand Hollow
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hollow
      • Sand Hollow is located in Canyon County
    • Wilder
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Ada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa listed first.
    • Meridian
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Star
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
      • Star is located in Ada County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Star <1>
    • Kuna
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Garden City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
      • Garden City is located in Ada County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,920 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden City <1>
    • Boise Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Collister
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Boise Hills Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boise Hills Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise Hills Village
      • Boise Hills Village is located in Ada County
    • Boise City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Swan Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Boise County
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Bend
      • Horseshoe Bend is located in Boise County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horseshoe Bend <1>
  • Gem County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa listed first.
    • Bramwell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Emmett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Letha
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letha have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letha
      • Letha is located in Gem County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Letha <1>
    • Pearl
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Montour
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Montour. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour
      • Montour is located in Gem County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Montour
      • From Nampa to Montour
    • Sweet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Owyhee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa listed first.
    • Marsing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Homedale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homedale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homedale
      • Homedale is located in Owyhee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,830 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homedale <1>
    • Murphy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
      • Murphy is located in Owyhee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murphy <1>
  • Payette County
    • New Plymouth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Plymouth
      • New Plymouth is located in Payette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,609 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Plymouth <1>
  • Malheur County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa listed first.
    • Adrian
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adrian have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian
      • Adrian is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adrian <1>
    • Owyhee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Owyhee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
      • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Owyhee
      • From Nampa to Owyhee
    • Nyssa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nyssa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyssa
      • Nyssa is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,231 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nyssa <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Nampa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Nampa.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Nampa, with the one closest to Nampa 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Nampa had a population of 347 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Nampa had a population of 103,215 people.

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

  • Star
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
    • Star is located in Ada County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,259 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Star <1>
  • Caldwell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Middleton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Kuna
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mora
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
    • Mora is located in Ada County
  • Notus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Notus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notus
    • Notus is located in Canyon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Notus <1>
  • Boise City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Owyhee
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owyhee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
    • Owyhee is located in Ada County
  • Parma
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
    • Parma is located in Canyon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,129 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parma <1>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rockville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
      • Rockville is located in Owyhee County
    • Reynolds
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
      • Reynolds is located in Owyhee County
    • Owyhee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Owyhee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
      • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Owyhee
      • From Nampa to Owyhee
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Bend
      • Horseshoe Bend is located in Boise County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 822 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horseshoe Bend <1>
    • Sweet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Nampa ...

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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Nampa.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Nampa. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Nampa and those printed in the larger area surrounding Nampa.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Nampa.

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 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 Nampa:

The official website for Nampa: www.ci.nampa.id.us/

The official website for Canyon County: www.canyoncounty.org/

The official website for State of Idaho: https://idaho.gov/

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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Nampa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nampa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5788, Longitude: -116.5617    
<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 Nampa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025