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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 Bijou (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 Bijou. 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 southwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next parish to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the south.

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 west contained birth and death records; the parish to the south 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.

Bijou is located in Rapides 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 Rapides Parish: Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, La Salle, Natchitoches & Vernon.

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

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Bijou)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bijou, with the one closest to Bijou listed first.
    • Echo
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ruby
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Whittington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
    • Cheneyville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Loyd
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
    • Lecompte
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Kolin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Moreland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
    • Woodworth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Anandale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
    • Deville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Alexandria Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
    • Forest Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Allen Parish
    • Pawnee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bijou, with the one closest to Bijou listed first.
    • Egg Bend
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
    • Hessmer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Center Point
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Effie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Moncla
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
    • Marksville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Mansura
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Vick
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
    • Bunkie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Bunkie is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,826 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bunkie <1>
    • Enterprise
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Eola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Evergreen
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cottonport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Concordia Parish
    • Acme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Evangeline Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bijou, with the one closest to Bijou listed first.
    • Saint Landry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Turkey Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bayou Chicot
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Bayou Chicot is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chicot
    • Pine Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ville Platte
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bijou, with the one closest to Bijou listed first.
    • Creola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Creola is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Creola has also been known as:
      • Creola village
    • Fishville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Fishville is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
    • Stay
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
    • Pollock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Legonier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Legonier is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Legonier
  • Saint Landry Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bijou, with the one closest to Bijou listed first.
    • Morrow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Boretta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Boretta is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boretta
    • Bayou Jack
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayou Jack is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Jack
    • Rosa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Rosa is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosa
    • Immaculata
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Immaculata is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immaculata
    • Lebeau
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Bijou ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bijou.

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

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

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

  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Belledeau Baptist Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Kalone Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Stafford Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Christians Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Island Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • St. Catherine Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Wise Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Booneville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hays Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Campbell Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • Wadill Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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 Bijou in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bijou.

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

  • Egg Bend
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
  • Poland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Poland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland
  • Cheneyville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Loyd
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
  • Lecompte
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Marksville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Lamourie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
  • Haas
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Haas is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haas
  • Bunkie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bunkie is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,826 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bunkie <1>
  • Mansura
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Moreland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
  • Eola
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Evergreen
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cottonport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Moreauville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Bijou ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bijou.

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

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 Bijou:

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 Bijou, 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 from Point A (ie- Bijou) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.