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 Prairieland (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 Prairieland. 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 southwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals and 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/counties 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/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Prairieland is located in Calcasieu 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 Calcasieu Parish: Beauregard, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Newton (TX) & Orange (TX).
Below are the parishes/counties that are near Prairieland. For each of these parishes/counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Prairieland:
- Calcasieu Parish (The home parish of Prairieland)
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Greinwich Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Greinwich Village is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greinwich Village
- Prien
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
- Lake Charles
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Westlake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Carlyss
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
- Sulphur
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ararat
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
- Moss Bluff
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Bell City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Iowa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Hayes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Edgerly
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Vinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Allen Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Indian Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Reeves
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Beauregard Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Helme
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Helme is located in Beauregard Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
- Ragley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Cameron Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Grand Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
- Hackberry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cameron
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Creole
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Creole is located in Cameron Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creole
- Grand Chenier
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Jefferson Davis Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Lacassine
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Welsh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Welsh is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welsh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,195 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welsh <1>
- Fenton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Roanoke
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Prairieland, see our Parish-by-Parish Page for Prairieland.
Cemeteries Near Prairieland ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Prairieland.
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 Prairieland - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Prairieland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Highland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Consolata Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Prien Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Benoit Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Burleson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Pujol Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Grand Lake Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake Cemetery
- The Grand Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
- Big Lake Cemetery
- Grand Lake Community Cemetery
- Hebert Cemetery
- Herbert Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #67747 <2>
- Orange Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Bilbo Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Farqurar Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dutch Cove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Combre Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (52 more) ...
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Goos Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Carlyss.
- The Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mimosa - Pines Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #68231 <2>
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.<4>
While we didn't find Prairieland in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Prairieland.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Prairieland, with the one closest to Prairieland listed first.
- Grand Lake
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
- Lake Charles
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Westlake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Chloe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Chloe is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
- Hackberry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Iowa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Edgerly
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Cameron
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Vinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Grand Chenier
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Prairieland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Prairieland.
Newspapers Published in Prairieland ...
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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Prairieland.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Prairieland, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Prairieland.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Prairieland:
- Websites specific to Louisiana
- Pages specific to Calcasieu Parish
- Genealogy information for nearby parishes
- Allen Parish
- Beauregard Parish
- Cameron Parish
- Jefferson Davis Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Prairieland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Prairieland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |