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 Orleans (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 Orleans. 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 hospitals 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.
Orleans is located in Orange County.
To see how the shape of Indiana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Orange County: Crawford, Dubois, Lawrence, Martin & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Orleans. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orleans:
- Orange County (The home county of Orleans)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Leipsic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Leipsic is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leipsic
- Paoli
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bromer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bromer is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromer
- Mahan Crossing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mahan Crossing is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahan Crossing
- Abydel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Abydel is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abydel
- Chambersburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Chambersburg is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersburg
- Prospect
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Prospect is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect
- West Baden Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Baden Springs is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Baden Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
- Trotter Crossing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Trotter Crossing is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotter Crossing
- French Lick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Youngs Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Youngs Creek is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngs Creek
- Clark County
- Borden
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Marengo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- English
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Taswell
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Milltown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Eckerty
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Grantsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Grantsburg is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantsburg
- Pilot Knob
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Pilot Knob is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Knob
- Riceville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Riceville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
- Carefree
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Carefree is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carefree
- Magnolia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Magnolia is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Sulphur
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sulphur is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur
- West Fork
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- West Fork is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fork
- Davies's County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Alfordsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Alfordsville is located in Davies's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfordsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
- Cannelburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cannelburg is located in Davies's County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannelburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Dubois County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Hillham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hillham is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillham
- Norton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Norton is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
- Dubois
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Celestine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Birdseye
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Haysville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Haysville is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haysville
- Schnellville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Schnellville is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schnellville
- Kyana
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Kyana is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyana
- Portersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Portersville is located in Dubois County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Owensburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Owensburg is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensburg
- Koleen
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Koleen is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koleen
- Scotland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Scotland is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Depauw
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Depauw is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depauw
- Palmyra
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Frenchtown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Frenchtown is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Ramsey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ramsey is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
- Bradford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bradford is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
- New Salisbury
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Medora
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Medora is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medora
- Population from the 2020 Census: 693 people
- Norman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Vallonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kurtz
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Kurtz is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kurtz
- Brownstown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Freetown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Houston
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Houston is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- New Elizabethtown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Elizabethtown is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Elizabethtown
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Mitchell
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Spring Mill Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Spring Mill Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mill Village
- Stonington
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Stonington is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonington
- Lawrenceport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceport is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceport
- Georgia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Georgia is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
- Bono
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bono is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
- Tunnelton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tunnelton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelton
- Hartleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hartleyville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartleyville
- Fort Ritner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Ritner is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ritner
- Coxton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Coxton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxton
- Huron
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Huron is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
- Bedford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Crawford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Crawford is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
- Martin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Mount Olive
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Olive is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Lacy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lacy is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacy
- Shoals
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Windom
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Windom is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
- Loogootee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Burns City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burns City is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns City
- Crane
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Harrodsburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Harrodsburg is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrodsburg
- Kirksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Kirksville is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirksville
- Smithville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Saltillo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Saltillo is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltillo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
- Claysville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Claysville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
- Campbellsburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Livonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Livonia is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120 people
- Smedley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Smedley is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smedley
- Hardinsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Kossuth
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Kossuth is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kossuth
- Plattsburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Plattsburg is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plattsburg
- Salem
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Fredericksburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Harristown
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Harristown is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harristown
- South Boston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- South Boston is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Boston
- New Pekin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Pekin is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Pekin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,392 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orleans, see our County-by-County Page for Orleans.
Cemeteries Near Orleans ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orleans.
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 Orleans - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orleans covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Fairview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Old Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Freedom Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Scott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Irvin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Burton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mitchell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mitchell Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Mitchell.
- The Mitchell Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mitchell City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #170004 <2>
- Lewis Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Edward Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hamer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- IOOF Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (320 more) ...
- Freed Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Freedom Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hall Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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 Orleans had a population of 857 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Orleans had a population of 2,107 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orleans, with the one closest to Orleans listed first.
- Lost River
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Lost River is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost River
- Leipsic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Leipsic is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leipsic
- Orangeville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Orangeville is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangeville
- Mitchell
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Syria
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Syria is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syria
- Paoli
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bromer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bromer is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromer
- Georgia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Georgia is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgia
- Abydel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Abydel is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abydel
- Yockey
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Yockey is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yockey
- Stampers Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stampers Creek is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stampers Creek
- Bono
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bono is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Claysville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Claysville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
- Tunnelton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tunnelton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelton
- Bryantsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bryantsville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryantsville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orleans. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orleans.
Newspapers Published in Orleans ...
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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orleans.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orleans, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orleans.
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 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 Orleans:
- Websites specific to Indiana
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clark County
- Crawford County
- Davies's County
- Dubois County
- Greene County
- Harrison County
- Jackson County
- Lawrence County
- Martin County
- Monroe County
- Washington County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Indiana
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 Orleans, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Orleans) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |