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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 Roberts (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 Roberts. 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.

Name Variations for Roberts ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

While the name of this city is Roberts, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Roberts may originally have been Robert's.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Roberts is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Clark, Fremont & Madison.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Roberts)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Lewisville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Menan
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menan
      • Menan is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 807 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menan <2>
    • Annis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Garfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Jefferson County
    • Rigby
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Hamer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamer
      • Hamer is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 103 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamer <2>
    • Terreton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ririe
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Mud Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Monteview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monteview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monteview
      • Monteview is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monteview <2>
  • Bingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Woodville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Shelley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelley
      • Shelley is located in Bingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelley <2>
    • Basalt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Basalt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basalt
      • Basalt is located in Bingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 411 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Basalt <2>
    • Firth
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Firth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firth
      • Firth is located in Bingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 501 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Firth <2>
  • Bonneville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Ucon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ucon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ucon
      • Ucon is located in Bonneville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,172 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ucon <2>
    • Idaho Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Iona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ammon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ammon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ammon
      • Ammon is located in Bonneville County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,726 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ammon <2>
    • Taylorville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Ozone
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ozone. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozone
      • Ozone is located in Bonneville County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ozone
      • From Roberts to Ozone
  • Fremont County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Egin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Parker
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Teton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teton
      • Teton is located in Fremont County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Teton <2>
    • Wilford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Anthony
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Newdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newdale
      • Newdale is located in Fremont County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newdale <2>
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts listed first.
    • Plano
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Archer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Edmonds
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Rexburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Walker
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sugar City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar City
      • Sugar City is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar City <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Roberts ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Roberts.

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 Roberts - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Roberts, with the one closest to Roberts 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.<7>

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

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

  • Idaho Falls
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Teton
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teton
    • Teton is located in Fremont County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 747 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Teton <2>
  • Saint Anthony
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Basalt
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Basalt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basalt
    • Basalt is located in Bingham County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 411 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Basalt <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Roberts ...

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 Roberts.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Roberts. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Roberts and those printed in the larger area surrounding Roberts.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6> of Roberts.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Roberts:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Roberts) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roberts. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7213, Longitude: -112.1282    
<7>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 Roberts, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.