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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 Meeker (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 Meeker. 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 doctors 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.

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

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Meeker)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Loyd
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
    • Lecompte
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cheneyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Whittington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
    • Forest Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Echo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Moreland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
    • Longleaf
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Ruby
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • McNary
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • McNary is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
    • Glenmora
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Anandale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
  • Allen Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Pawnee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
    • Oakdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Mab
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Mab is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mab
    • Elizabeth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bond
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bond is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bond
    • Ward
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ward is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Egg Bend
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
    • Bunkie
      (13 miles [20.9 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Hessmer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Center Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Milburn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Milburn is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
    • Enterprise
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Effie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Evergreen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gold Dust
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Gold Dust is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Dust
    • Moncla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
    • Cottonport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Mansura
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Evangeline Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Turkey Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bayou Chicot
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bayou Chicot is located in Evangeline Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chicot
    • Saint Landry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Prairie
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Reddell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Ville Platte
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mamou
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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>
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Creola
      (26 miles [41.8 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
  • Saint Landry Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meeker, with the one closest to Meeker listed first.
    • Morrow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Boretta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Boretta is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boretta
    • Bayou Jack
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayou Jack is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Jack
    • Rosa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Rosa is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosa
  • Vernon Parish
    • Leander
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander

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

Cemeteries Near Meeker ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meeker.

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

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

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

  • Meeker Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Linzay Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Ballard Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Lecompte Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Mathews Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Wells Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Pisgah Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Wilmer Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Paul Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Duplissey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (201 more) ...
    • St. John Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Stafford Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Christians Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Loyd
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
  • Lecompte
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Lamourie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
  • Cheneyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Poland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Poland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland
  • Moreland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
  • Haas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Haas is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haas
  • Egg Bend
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
  • Eola
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
  • Bunkie
    (13 miles [20.9 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>
  • Melder
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Alexandria
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Evergreen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pineville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Meeker ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meeker.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Meeker, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Meeker.

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 Meeker:

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