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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 Dry Creek (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 Dry Creek. 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.

Name Variations for Dry Creek ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Dry Creek: Dry Crk. (or less commonly used: Dry Ck. or Dry Cr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Dry Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Dry Creek.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

Neighboring Parishes/Counties ...

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

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next parish to the west. 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/counties 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 north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Dry Creek is located in Beauregard 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 Beauregard Parish: Allen, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Vernon & Newton (TX).

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

  • Beauregard Parish     (The home parish of Dry Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dry Creek, with the one closest to Dry Creek listed first.
    • Sugartown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Fayette ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fayette is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Longville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Ragley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ikes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Ikes is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ikes
    • DeRidder
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ludington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Ludington is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludington
    • Newlin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
    • Singer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Merryville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Allen Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dry Creek, with the one closest to Dry Creek listed first.
    • Cherry Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Cherry Grove is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
    • Mittie
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Tenmile
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tenmile is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
    • Reeves
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Le Blanc
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Le Blanc is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Blanc
    • Marionville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Marionville is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
    • Reids
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Reids is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reids
    • Indian Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Elder
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Elder is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
    • Oberlin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Kinder
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Calcasieu Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dry Creek, with the one closest to Dry Creek listed first.
    • Moss Bluff
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Ararat
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Dequincy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Iowa
      (30 miles [48.3 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
  • Evangeline Parish
    • Basile
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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 Dry Creek, with the one closest to Dry Creek listed first.
    • Fenton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Elton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Lacassine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Vernon Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dry Creek, with the one closest to Dry Creek listed first.
    • Cole Central
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Cole Central is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cole Central
    • Pitkin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Dido
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Dido is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dido
    • Cravens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Cravens is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cravens
    • Fullerton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Rosepine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinewood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pinewood is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
    • Fort Polk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Pickering
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Pickering is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickering
    • Elmwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Elmwood is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood

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

Cemeteries Near Dry Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dry Creek.

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 Dry Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Dry Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lindsey Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Frusha Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hopwell Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hoy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Barentine Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Horton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Campground Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • New Campground Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (94 more) ...
    • Magnolia Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sugartown Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Creel Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Dido
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Dido is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dido
  • Chloe
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Chloe is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
  • Elmwood
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Elmwood is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood

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

Newspapers Published in Dry Creek ...

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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dry Creek.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Dry Creek:

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 Dry Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Dry Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.