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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 Bel (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 Bel. 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 Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next parish to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the east contained birth and death records; the parish to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Bel is located in Allen Parish.

To see how the shape of Louisiana's parishes may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Allen Parish: Acadia, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis, Rapides & Vernon.

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

  • Allen Parish     (The home parish of Bel)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bel, with the one closest to Bel listed first.
    • Reeves
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Le Blanc
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Le Blanc is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Blanc
    • Indian Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Kinder
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Cherry Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cherry Grove is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
    • Mittie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Elder
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Elder is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
    • Coverdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Coverdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coverdale
    • Lauderdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Lauderdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
    • Oberlin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Tenmile
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Tenmile is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
    • Canton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Canton is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
  • Beauregard Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bel, with the one closest to Bel listed first.
    • Fayette ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Fayette is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Ragley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Dry Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Longville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Newlin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
    • Singer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugartown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ikes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Ikes is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ikes
    • DeRidder
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Helme
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
    • Ludington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Ludington is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludington
  • Calcasieu Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bel, with the one closest to Bel listed first.
    • Moss Bluff
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Ararat
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Iowa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
    • Westlake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dequincy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lake Charles
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Greinwich Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Greinwich Village is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greinwich Village
    • Prien
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
    • Sulphur
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bell City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Carlyss
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
    • Hayes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Evangeline Parish
    • Basile
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Basile is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basile
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,791 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Basile <1>
  • Jefferson Davis Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bel, with the one closest to Bel listed first.
    • Fenton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Fenton is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fenton <1>
    • Lacassine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Elton is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,134 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elton <1>
    • Welsh
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Welsh is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welsh
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,195 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welsh <1>
    • Roanoke
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Vernon Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bel, with the one closest to Bel listed first.
    • Cole Central
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Cole Central is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cole Central
    • Dido
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Dido is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dido
    • Cravens
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Cravens is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cravens
    • Pitkin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Rosepine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Bel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bel.

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

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

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

  • Creel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lyles Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Kingrey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Nevils Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Nevil Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Frusha Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dry Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Lindsey Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Gillie Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Herbert Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • McGee Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (89 more) ...
    • Barentine Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Birdsnest Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Kinder Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)

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>

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

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

  • Chloe
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Chloe is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
  • Westlake
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Iowa
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
  • Lake Charles
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Dido
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dido is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dido

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

Newspapers Published in Bel ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bel.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bel, 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 Bel.

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 Bel:

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 Bel, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.