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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 Fontenot (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 Fontenot. 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 and doctors 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.

Fontenot is primarily located in Allen Parish. A portion of Fontenot extends into Jefferson Davis 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 Fontenot. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fontenot:

  • Allen Parish     (The home parish of Fontenot)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Kinder
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Coverdale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Coverdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coverdale
    • Lauderdale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lauderdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
    • Le Blanc
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Le Blanc is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Blanc
    • Elder
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Elder is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
    • Reeves
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oberlin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mittie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Canton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Canton is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
    • Cherry Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cherry Grove is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
    • Tenmile
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Tenmile is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
    • Bond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Bond is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond
  • Acadia Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Evangeline
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Iota
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Iota is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iota
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,428 people
    • Mermentau
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Egan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Ellis is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Estherwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Beauregard Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Dry Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Fayette ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Fayette is located in Beauregard Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Ragley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Longville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sugartown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Calcasieu Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Iowa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
    • Moss Bluff
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Ararat
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Hayes
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bell City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Greinwich Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Greinwich Village is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greinwich Village
    • Lake Charles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Westlake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Prien
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
  • Evangeline Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Basile
      (16 miles [25.7 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>
    • Unatex
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Unatex is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unatex
    • Duralde
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Duralde is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duralde
    • Tyrone
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Tyrone is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
    • Mamou
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mamou is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mamou
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,077 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mamou <1>
  • Jefferson Davis Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fontenot, with the one closest to Fontenot listed first.
    • Fenton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (11 miles [17.7 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>
    • Lacassine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Welsh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • 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
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jennings
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jennings is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,660 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jennings <1>
    • Lake Arthur
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Saint Landry Parish
    • Eunice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Eunice is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eunice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,655 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eunice <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Fontenot ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fontenot.

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

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

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

  • McGee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • LaBleu Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Kinder Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Green Oak Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Nevil Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Nevils Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • St. Lukes Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • China Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Herbert Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kingrey Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • La France Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (103 more) ...
    • St. Peters Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lyles Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Lyles Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Iowa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
  • Chloe
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Chloe is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
  • Cartville ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Cartville is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartville
  • Mermentau
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake Charles
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Westlake
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Fontenot ...

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 Fontenot.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fontenot, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fontenot.

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 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 Fontenot:

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 Fontenot, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fontenot) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.