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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 Willard (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 Willard. 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.

Willard is located in Benewah 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 Benewah County: Kootenai, Latah, Shoshone, Spokane (WA) & Whitman (WA).

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

  • Benewah County     (The home county of Willard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Tensed
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • De Smet
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Smet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet
      • De Smet is located in Benewah County
    • Plummer
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chatcolet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Parkline
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkline have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkline
      • Parkline is located in Benewah County
    • Emida
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Saint Maries
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Maries have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Maries
      • Saint Maries is located in Benewah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Maries <1>
    • Santa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Kootenai County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Worley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Conkling Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrison
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Kootenai County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrison <1>
    • Bellgrove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Medimont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medimont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medimont
      • Medimont is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Medimont <1>
    • Lane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Latah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Cora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
      • Cora is located in Latah County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cora
      • From Willard to Cora
    • Freeze
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Onaway
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onaway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Onaway is located in Latah County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Potlatch Junction
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Potlatch
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Princeton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Princeton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
      • Princeton is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Princeton <1>
    • Harvard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
      • Harvard is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvard <1>
    • Viola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Viola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
      • Viola is located in Latah County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Viola <1>
  • Spokane County (WA)
  • Whitman County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Willard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willard.

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

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

  • Goldenrod Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goldenrod Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goldenrod Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lone Pine Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Pine Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Pine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Latah Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Latah Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Latah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farmington Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farmington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farmington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Rosewood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairfield Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oakesdale Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakesdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakesdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farmington Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farmington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farmington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coeur d'Alene Indian Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coeur d'Alene Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coeur d'Alene Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Worley Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Silver Creek Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mountain View Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in Willard ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willard, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willard.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Willard:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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>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 from Point A (ie- Willard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.2414, Longitude: -117.0388    
<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 Willard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025