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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Star (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 Star. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Star is primarily located in Ada County. A portion of Star extends into Canyon 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 Ada County: Boise, Canyon, Elmore, Gem & Owyhee.

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

  • Ada County     (The home county of Star)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Eagle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Meridian
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Collister
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Collister is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collister
    • Boise Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Boise Junction is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise Junction
    • Kuna
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Boise Hills Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Boise Hills Village is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise Hills Village
    • Boise
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Boise is located in Ada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229,776 people
      • Former name for Boise:
      • Boise City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boise <1>
  • Boise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Horseshoe Bend
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Brownlee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Brownlee is located in Boise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee
  • Canyon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Middleton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Nampa
      (8 miles [12.9 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>
    • Caldwell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Kings Corner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Kings Corner is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Corner
    • Weitz
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Weitz is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weitz
    • Sand Hollow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sand Hollow is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hollow
    • Huston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Notus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Bowmont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bowmont is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmont
    • Greenleaf
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Riverside
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Riverside is located in Canyon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Wilder
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Melba
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Gem County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Bramwell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bramwell is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramwell
    • Emmett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Pearl
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Pearl is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Letha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Montour
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Montour is located in Gem County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montour
    • Sweet
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Owyhee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Marsing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Homedale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Payette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • New Plymouth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckingham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Buckingham is located in Payette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Fruitland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Malheur County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star listed first.
    • Nyssa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Adrian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Owyhee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee

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

Cemeteries Near Star ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Star.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Star, with the one closest to Star 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Star had a population of 22 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Star had a population of 11,259 people.

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

  • Middleton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Nampa
    (8 miles [12.9 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>
  • Caldwell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Kuna
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Boise
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Boise is located in Ada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 229,776 people
    • Former name for Boise:
    • Boise City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boise <1>
  • Notus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Mora
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mora is located in Ada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
  • Horseshoe Bend
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Sweet
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Parma
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Owyhee
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Owyhee is located in Ada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
  • Nyssa
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Owyhee is located in Malheur County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee

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

Newspapers Published in Star ...

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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Star.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Star, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Star.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Star:

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 Star, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Star) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.