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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 Kent (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 Kent. 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.

Kent 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 Kent. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Kent:

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Kent)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Alexandria Junction
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
    • Alexandria
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Anandale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
    • Pineville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Weil
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
    • Moreland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
    • Tioga
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kolin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Libuse
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ball
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ball is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,906 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ball <1>
    • Whittington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
    • Gardner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Allen Parish
    • Pawnee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Center Point
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • North Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
    • Effie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Egg Bend
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
    • Moncla
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
    • Vick
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
    • Hessmer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Marksville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bunkie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Eola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Mansura
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Enterprise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Evangeline Parish
    • Turkey Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Creola
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Stay
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
    • Bentley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Fairmount
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Pollock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Fishville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Fishville is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
    • Antonia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Antonia is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonia
    • Dry Prong
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Colfax
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Creek ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Black Creek is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
  • La Salle Parish
    • Sharp Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
  • Natchitoches Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Marco
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Marco is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marco
    • Gorum
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Vernon Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kent, with the one closest to Kent listed first.
    • Leander
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
    • Lacamp
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Kent ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kent.

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

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

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

  • Anandale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Wesley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Alexandria National Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sunlight Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Holly Oak Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • B'nai Israel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (203 more) ...
    • Figgins Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Maryhill Seminary Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newlight Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Alexandria
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Pineville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Weil
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
  • Moreland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
  • Rapides
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rapides is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapides
  • Lamourie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
  • Crane
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Crane is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
  • Boyce
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Milford ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Milford is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
  • Lecompte
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Poland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Poland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland
  • Melder
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Fairmount
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Elmer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Holloway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Holloway is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway

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

Newspapers Published in Kent ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kent.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kent, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kent.

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 Kent:

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