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 Poland (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 Poland. 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 northeast 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 north.
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 north 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.
Poland is located in Rapides 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 Rapides Parish: Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, La Salle, Natchitoches & Vernon.
Below are the parishes that are near Poland. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Poland:
- Rapides Parish (The home parish of Poland)
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Ruby
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Ruby is located in Rapides Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <2>
- Whittington
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Whittington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
- Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
- Echo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Kolin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Moreland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
- Lecompte
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lecompte have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lecompte
- Lecompte is located in Rapides Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lecompte <2>
- Loyd
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Loyd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
- Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
- Cheneyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheneyville
- Cheneyville is located in Rapides Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cheneyville <2>
- Anandale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
- Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
- Libuse
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Libuse have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libuse
- Libuse is located in Rapides Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Libuse <2>
- Alexandria Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
- Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
- Woodworth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Alexandria
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Allen Parish
- Pawnee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pawnee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
- Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
- Avoyelles Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Egg Bend
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Egg Bend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
- Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Center Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
- Center Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <2>
- Effie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Moncla
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
- Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Vick
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
- Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
- North Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
- North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Marksville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marksville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
- Marksville is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marksville <2>
- Hessmer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hessmer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessmer
- Hessmer is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hessmer <2>
- Bunkie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Mansura
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Enterprise
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Eola
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
- Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Evergreen
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Evergreen is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evergreen <2>
- Concordia Parish
- Acme
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Acme have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Acme is located in Concordia Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acme <2>
- Evangeline Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Turkey Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Creek
- Turkey Creek is located in Evangeline Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turkey Creek <2>
- Saint Landry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Landry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Landry
- Saint Landry is located in Evangeline Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Landry <2>
- Bayou Chicot
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chicot
- Bayou Chicot is located in Evangeline Parish
- Pine Prairie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Prairie
- Pine Prairie is located in Evangeline Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,444 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pine Prairie <2>
- Grant Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Creola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
- Creola is located in Grant Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
- Creola has also been known as:
- Creola village
- Stay
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
- Stay is located in Grant Parish
- Fishville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fishville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
- Fishville is located in Grant Parish
- Pollock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Bentley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Antonia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonia
- Antonia is located in Grant Parish
- Fairmount
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fairmount. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
- La Salle Parish
- Sharp Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharp Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
- Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
- Saint Landry Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Morrow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrow
- Morrow is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrow <2>
- Bayou Jack
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Jack
- Bayou Jack is located in Saint Landry Parish
- Boretta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boretta
- Boretta is located in Saint Landry Parish
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Poland, see our Parish-by-Parish Page for Poland.
Cemeteries Near Poland ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Poland.
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 Poland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Pierce Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Wise Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wise Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wise Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Wise Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wise Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wise Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Kalone Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kalone Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kalone Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Hays Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hays Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hays Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Campbell Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campbell Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campbell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Peart Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peart Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Belledeau Baptist Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- French Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the French Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the French Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Hopewell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopewell Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopewell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Continue List (190 more) ...
- St. John Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- St. Catherine Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Catherine Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Catherine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Czech National Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Czech National Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Czech National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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, Poland had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Poland, with the one closest to Poland listed first.
- Egg Bend
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Egg Bend. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
- Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Lamourie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamourie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
- Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
- Moreland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
- Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
- Lecompte
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lecompte have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lecompte
- Lecompte is located in Rapides Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lecompte <2>
- Loyd
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Loyd. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyd
- Loyd is located in Rapides Parish
- Cheneyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cheneyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheneyville
- Cheneyville is located in Rapides Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 574 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cheneyville <2>
- Marksville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marksville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
- Marksville is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marksville <2>
- Pineville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Alexandria
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Haas
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haas
- Haas is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Bunkie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Mansura
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Holloway
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holloway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
- Holloway is located in Rapides Parish
- Eola
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
- Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Evergreen
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Evergreen is located in Avoyelles Parish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evergreen <2>
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Poland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Poland.
Newspapers Published in Poland ...
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 Poland.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Poland, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Poland.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Poland:
- Websites specific to Louisiana
- Pages specific to Rapides Parish
- Genealogy information for nearby parishes
- Allen Parish
- Avoyelles Parish
- Concordia Parish
- Evangeline Parish
- Grant Parish
- La Salle Parish
- Saint Landry Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Poland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Rapides Parish: www.rppj.com/
The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
<2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
<3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
<4> | 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. |
<5> | 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 Poland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
<6> | 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- Poland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Poland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.1671, Longitude: -92.2757 In this case, the coordinates for Poland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |