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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 Book (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 Book. 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 southeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next parish to the east. 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 east 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.

Book is located in Catahoula 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 Catahoula Parish: Avoyelles, Caldwell, Concordia, Franklin, La Salle & Tensas.

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

  • Catahoula Parish     (The home parish of Book)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Parhams
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Parhams is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parhams
    • Utility
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Utility is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utility
    • Jonesville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Trinity
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Trinity is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
    • Rhinehart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Harrisonburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Vick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
    • Bordelonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Moncla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
    • North Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
    • Effie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Marksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Center Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Hamburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Moreauville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Mansura
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Egg Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
    • Hessmer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Concordia Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Acme
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Armagh
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Armagh is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armagh
    • Monterey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Monterey is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
    • Bougere
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Bougere is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bougere
    • Wildsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Fairview
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Fairview is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Athlone
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Athlone is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athlone
    • Chevey Chase
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Chevey Chase is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chevey Chase
    • Ferriday
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ridgecrest
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgecrest is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgecrest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
    • Sycamore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Sycamore is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • West Ferriday
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • West Ferriday is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ferriday
  • La Salle Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Sharp Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
    • Jena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jena is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jena <1>
    • Midway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Midway is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
    • Trout
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Pointe Coupee Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Legonier
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Legonier is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Legonier
    • Lettsworth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Rapides Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Deville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Ruby
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Echo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kolin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Libuse
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Whittington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
  • Adams County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Book, with the one closest to Book listed first.
    • Carthage
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Carthage is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
    • Cloverdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cloverdale is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Wilkinson County (MS)
    • Artonish
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Artonish is located in Wilkinson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artonish

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

Cemeteries Near Book ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Book.

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

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

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

  • Peas Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Nichols Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Dewey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Dale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Trisler Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Trisler Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Gillespie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Earl Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lone Pine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Hedrick Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Palo Alto Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Young Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • Pecantly Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • White Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Steele Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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.<2>

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

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

  • New Era
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • New Era is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
  • Acme
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Eva
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Eva is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eva
  • Parhams
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Parhams is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parhams
  • Glade
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Glade is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
  • Monterey
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Monterey is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
  • Lismore
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lismore is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lismore
  • Security
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Security is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Security
  • Bougere
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bougere is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bougere
  • Bordelonville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Lavacco
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lavacco is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavacco
  • Arnot
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Arnot is located in Adams County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnot
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Kienstra
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kienstra is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kienstra
    • Marksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Bend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Big Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend

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

Newspapers Published in Book ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Book.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Book, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Book.

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 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 Book:

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>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 Book, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Book) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.