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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 Oakley (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 Oakley. 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 doctors 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.

Oakley is located in Cassia 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 Cassia County: Blaine, Jerome, Minidoka, Oneida, Power, Twin Falls, Elko (NV) & Box Elder (UT).

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

  • Cassia County     (The home county of Oakley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Marion
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marion. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
      • Marion is located in Cassia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Marion
      • From Oakley to Marion
    • Basin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Basin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin
      • Basin is located in Cassia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Basin
      • From Oakley to Basin
    • Elba
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Pella
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Almo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Artesian City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Albion
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Burley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Declo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Declo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Declo
      • Declo is located in Cassia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 369 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Declo <2>
    • Malta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
      • Malta is located in Cassia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malta <2>
    • Bridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridge
      • Bridge is located in Cassia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bridge
      • From Oakley to Bridge
    • Standrod
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Standrod. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standrod
      • Standrod is located in Cassia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Standrod
      • From Oakley to Standrod
  • Jerome County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Hazelton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Jerome County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <2>
  • Minidoka County
  • Twin Falls County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Murtaugh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hansen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hansen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hansen
      • Hansen is located in Twin Falls County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hansen <2>
  • Box Elder County (UT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley listed first.
    • Vipont ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vipont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vipont
      • Vipont is located in Box Elder County (UT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vipont
      • From Oakley to Vipont
    • Lynn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lynn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
      • Lynn is located in Box Elder County (UT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lynn
      • From Oakley to Lynn
    • Yost
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yost. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yost
      • Yost is located in Box Elder County (UT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yost
      • From Oakley to Yost
    • Standrod
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Standrod. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standrod
      • Standrod is located in Box Elder County (UT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Standrod
      • From Oakley to Standrod

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

Cemeteries Near Oakley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakley.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oakley, with the one closest to Oakley 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 Oakley had a population of 144 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Oakley had a population of 818 people.

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

  • Marion
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marion. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Marion is located in Cassia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Marion
    • From Oakley to Marion
  • Basin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Basin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basin
    • Basin is located in Cassia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Basin
    • From Oakley to Basin
  • Almo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Elba
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Albion
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Conant
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conant
    • Conant is located in Cassia County
  • Yost
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yost. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yost
    • Yost is located in Box Elder County (UT)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Yost
    • From Oakley to Yost
  • Malta
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
    • Malta is located in Cassia County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malta <2>
  • Bridge
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridge
    • Bridge is located in Cassia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bridge
    • From Oakley to Bridge
  • Standrod
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Standrod. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standrod
    • Standrod is located in Cassia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Standrod
    • From Oakley to Standrod

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oakley ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oakley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oakley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oakley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Oakley.

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 Oakley:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- Oakley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oakley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2431, Longitude: -113.8820    
<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 Oakley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.