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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 Mamou (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 Mamou. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Mamou is located in Evangeline 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 Evangeline Parish: Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Jefferson Davis, Rapides & Saint Landry.

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

  • Evangeline Parish     (The home parish of Mamou)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Reddell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Chataignier
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Duralde
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Duralde is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duralde
    • Ville Platte
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tyrone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Tyrone is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
    • Unatex
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Unatex is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unatex
    • Bayou Chicot
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Bayou Chicot is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chicot
    • Basile
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
    • Turkey Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Saint Landry
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Acadia Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Church Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Iota
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Iota is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iota
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,428 people
    • Branch
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Ellis is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Higginbotham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Higginbotham is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higginbotham
    • Castille
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Castille is located in Acadia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castille
    • Egan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Evangeline
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Rayne
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Crowley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Allen Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Bond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Bond is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond
    • Oakdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ward
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ward is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
    • Canton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Canton is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
    • Oberlin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Pawnee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
    • Coverdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Coverdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coverdale
    • Lauderdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Lauderdale is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lauderdale
    • Elder
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Elder is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
    • Mab
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Mab is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mab
    • Elizabeth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kinder
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Marionville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Marionville is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Gold Dust
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Gold Dust is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Dust
    • Milburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Milburn is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
    • Eola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Bunkie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Evergreen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Enterprise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Elton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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>
  • Lafayette Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Carencro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Duson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Duson is located in Lafayette Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,761 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Duson <1>
    • Ossun
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Ossun is located in Lafayette Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ossun
  • Rapides Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Glenmora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Longleaf
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • McNary
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • McNary is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • Cheneyville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Loyd
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
    • Forest Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Saint Landry Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mamou, with the one closest to Mamou listed first.
    • Eunice
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Lawtell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Boretta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Boretta is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boretta
    • Lewisburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lewisburg is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
    • Opelousas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Washington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Morrow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Rosa is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosa
    • Sunset
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunset is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,962 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunset <1>
    • Cankton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cankton is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cankton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
    • Grand Coteau
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Immaculata
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Immaculata is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immaculata
    • Lebeau
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Mamou ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mamou.

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

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

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

  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Community Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Paron Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Ardoin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Reed Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Pine Point Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Rougeau Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pinseclair Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Fontenot Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Leon Manuel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Platin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (181 more) ...
    • Ortego Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Veillon Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Miller Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.<2>

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

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

  • Prudhomme
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Prudhomme is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prudhomme
  • Plaisance
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Plaisance is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plaisance
  • Barbreck
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Barbreck is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barbreck
  • Boretta
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Boretta is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boretta
  • Whiteville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Whiteville is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteville
  • Church Point
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Cartville ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Cartville is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartville
  • Opelousas
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Washington
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Beggs
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Beggs is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beggs
  • Garland
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Garland is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
  • Dubuisson
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dubuisson is located in Saint Landry Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubuisson
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Eola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Shuteston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Shuteston is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shuteston
    • Haas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Haas is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haas

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mamou ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mamou.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Mamou. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Mamou and those printed in the larger area surrounding Mamou.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3> of Mamou.

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 Mamou:

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 Mamou, 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' (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- Mamou) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.