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 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/counties 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/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 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greinwich Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greinwich Village
    • Greinwich Village is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Prien
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
    • Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Lake Charles
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Charles
    • Lake Charles is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 78,433 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Charles <2>
  • Westlake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westlake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
    • Westlake is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,873 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westlake <2>
  • Carlyss
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
    • Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Sulphur
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur
    • Sulphur is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,120 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sulphur <2>
  • Ararat
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Moss Bluff
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moss Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Bluff
    • Moss Bluff is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moss Bluff <2>
  • Bell City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Bell City is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell City <2>
  • Iowa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
    • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
  • Hayes
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
    • Hayes is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayes <2>
  • Edgerly
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
• 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Indian Village is located in Allen Parish
  • Reeves
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reeves have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeves
    • Reeves is located in Allen Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 243 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reeves <2>
• 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)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helme. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
    • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish
  • Ragley
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ragley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ragley
    • Ragley is located in Beauregard Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ragley <2>
• 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)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grand Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
    • Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
  • Hackberry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Hackberry is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hackberry <2>
  • Cameron
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cameron is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cameron <2>
  • Creole
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Creole. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creole
    • Creole is located in Cameron Parish
  • Grand Chenier
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Chenier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Chenier
    • Grand Chenier is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Chenier <2>
• 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lacassine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacassine
    • Lacassine is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacassine <2>
  • Fenton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fenton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenton
    • Fenton is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fenton <2>
  • Welsh
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Welsh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welsh
    • Welsh is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,195 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welsh <2>
  • Roanoke
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roanoke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roanoke
    • Roanoke is located in Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roanoke <2>

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.

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 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Consolata Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Consolata Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #178371 <4>
• Prien Memorial Park
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prien Memorial Park
• Benoit Cemetery
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Benoit Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Benoit Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Burleson Cemetery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burleson Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burleson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Pujol Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pujol Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pujol Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Grand Lake Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <4>
• Orange Grove Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Orange Grove Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Orange Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Bilbo Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bilbo Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bilbo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Farqurar Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farqurar Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farqurar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Dutch Cove Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutch Cove Cemetery
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dutch Cove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
• Combre Memorial Park
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Combre Memorial Park
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #67257 <4>
• Continue List   (52 more) ...
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #68758 <4>
  • Goos Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goos Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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<5> to the northwest of Carlyss.
    • The Mimosa - Pines South Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mimosa - Pines Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #68231 <4>

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.<6>

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)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grand Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
  • Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
• Lake Charles
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Charles
  • Lake Charles is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 78,433 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Charles <2>
• Westlake
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westlake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
  • Westlake is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,873 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westlake <2>
• Chloe
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chloe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chloe
  • Chloe is located in Calcasieu Parish
• Hackberry
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
  • Hackberry is located in Cameron Parish
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hackberry <2>
• Iowa
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
  • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
• Edgerly
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
  • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish
• Cameron
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
  • Cameron is located in Cameron Parish
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cameron <2>
• Vinton
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vinton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
  • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <2>
• Grand Chenier
  (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Chenier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Chenier
  • Grand Chenier is located in Cameron Parish
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Chenier <2>

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 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. 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 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 Prairieland:

• Websites specific to Louisiana
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the //www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources//Historical Resources/

• Pages specific to Calcasieu Parish
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby parishes
  • Allen Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Beauregard Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Cameron Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Jefferson Davis Parish
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Cemeteries of Calcasieu Parish
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Louisiana
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Louisiana

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Prairieland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Calcasieu Parish: www.cppj.net/

The official website for State of Louisiana: https://www.louisiana.gov/