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 Grand Chenier (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 Grand Chenier. 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/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 southeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most 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/counties 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/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Grand Chenier is located in Cameron Parish.

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

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Cameron Parish: Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Vermilion, Jefferson (TX) & Orange (TX).

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

• Cameron Parish     (The home parish of Grand Chenier)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Chenier, with the one closest to Grand Chenier listed first.
  • Creole
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creole have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creole
    • Creole is located in Cameron Parish
  • Cameron
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cameron is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cameron <2>
  • Grand Lake
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
    • Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
  • Hackberry
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Hackberry is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hackberry <2>
• Calcasieu Parish
  • The following are listed by their distance from Grand Chenier, with the one closest to Grand Chenier listed first.
  • Bell City
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Bell City is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell City <2>
  • Hayes
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
    • Hayes is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayes <2>
• Jefferson Davis Parish
  • Lake Arthur
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Arthur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Arthur
    • Lake Arthur is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,736 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Arthur <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Grand Chenier ...

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 2 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grand Chenier.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grand Chenier, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grand Chenier.

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 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 Grand Chenier:

• Websites specific to Louisiana
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the //www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources//Historical Resources/

• Pages specific to Cameron Parish
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby parishes
  • Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Cemeteries of Cameron Parish
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Cemeteries of Cameron Parish

Cemeteries Near Grand Chenier ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grand Chenier.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

• McCall Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCall Cemetery
• Little Chenier Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Chenier Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2255613 <4>
• Circle Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Circle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Circle Cemetery
• Duhon Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Duhon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duhon Cemetery
• La Bove Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Bove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Bove Cemetery
• Sacred Heart Cemetery
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sacred Heart Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the east of Creole.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1258517 <4>
• First Baptist Cemetery
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the First Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First Baptist Cemetery
• Granger Cemetery
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Granger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Granger Cemetery
• Kelly - Rogers Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelly - Rogers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelly - Rogers Cemetery
• Our Lady Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady Cemetery
• Wakefield Memorial Cemetery
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wakefield Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wakefield Memorial Cemetery
• Grand Lake Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • The Grand Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Big Lake Cemetery
  • Grand Lake Community Cemetery
  • Hebert Cemetery
  • Herbert Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Lake Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #67747 <4>
• Continue List   (7 more) ...
  • Pujol Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pujol Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pujol Cemetery
  • Lorrain Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lorrain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lorrain Cemetery
  • Broussard Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Broussard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Broussard Cemetery

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Grand Chenier had a post office and no railroad service.

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

• Cameron
  (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
  • Cameron is located in Cameron Parish
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cameron <2>
• Grand Lake
  (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
  • Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
• Hackberry
  (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
  • Hackberry is located in Cameron Parish
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hackberry <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Grand Chenier. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/