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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 Riddle (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 Riddle. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Riddle is located in West Feliciana 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 West Feliciana Parish: Avoyelles, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge & Wilkinson (MS).

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

  • West Feliciana Parish     (The home parish of Riddle)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Saint Francisville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bains
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Bains is located in West Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bains
    • Converse ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Converse is located in West Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
    • Wakefield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Rogillioville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Rogillioville is located in West Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogillioville
    • Weyanoke
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Tunica
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Angola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • East Baton Rouge Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Port Hudson
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Port Hudson is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Hudson
    • Zachary
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Zachary is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zachary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zachary <1>
    • Baker
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Baker is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,999 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baker <1>
    • Tristian Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Tristian Village is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tristian Village
    • Brownfields
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brownfields is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownfields
    • Zion City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Zion City is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
    • Boganvilla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Boganvilla is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boganvilla
    • Pride
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Central
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Central is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,450 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Central <1>
    • Maribel Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Maribel Village is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maribel Village
    • Merrydale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Merrydale is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrydale
    • Beauregard Town
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Beauregard Town is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard Town
    • Baton Rouge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • East Feliciana Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Lindsay
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Lindsay is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindsay
    • Bells Store ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Bells Store is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Store
    • Jackson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jackson is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,707 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
    • Slaughter
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Ethel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilson is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 546 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilson <1>
    • Blairstown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Blairstown is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairstown
    • Clinton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Clinton is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,486 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clinton <1>
    • Norwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Norwood is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <1>
    • Woodland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland is located in East Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
  • Iberville Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Maringouin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosedale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grosse Tete
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Morrisonville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Morrisonville is located in Iberville Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisonville
    • Plaquemine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Livingston Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Watson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Denham Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Denham Springs is located in Livingston Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,842 people
      • Former names for Denham Springs:
      • Amite Springs
      • Hill's Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denham Springs <1>
    • Oldfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Oldfield is located in Livingston Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldfield
  • Pointe Coupee Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Hermitage
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Hermitage is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Glynn
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Ventress
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Patin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Patin is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patin
    • New Roads
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Rougon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jarreau
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Dupont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oscar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Morganza
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Livonia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Livonia is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,399 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Livonia <1>
    • Fordoche
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Saint Helena Parish
    • Grangeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Grangeville is located in Saint Helena Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville
  • Saint Landry Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Melville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Elba
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Elba is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
    • Krotz Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Half Moon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Half Moon is located in Saint Landry Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Moon
  • West Baton Rouge Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Arbroth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Arbroth is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbroth
    • Erwinville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Devalls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Devalls is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devalls
    • Carey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Carey is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carey
    • Lobdell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Lobdell is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobdell
    • Wilbert ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Wilbert is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbert
    • Port Allen
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Brusly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Brusly is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brusly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,580 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brusly <1>
    • Addis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Addis is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,464 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Addis <1>
  • Wilkinson County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riddle, with the one closest to Riddle listed first.
    • Turnbull
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Turnbull is located in Wilkinson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbull
    • Whitaker
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Whitaker is located in Wilkinson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitaker
    • Woodville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Centreville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Riddle ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riddle.

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

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

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

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.<3>

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

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

  • Waterloo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Waterloo is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
  • Anchor
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Anchor is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor
  • Port Hudson
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Port Hudson is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Hudson
  • Lindsay
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lindsay is located in East Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindsay
  • Ventress
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Arbroth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Arbroth is located in West Baton Rouge Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbroth
  • Pointe Coupee
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pointe Coupee is located in Pointe Coupee Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pointe Coupee
  • New Roads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Irene
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Irene is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irene
  • Bells Store ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bells Store is located in East Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Store
  • Lakeland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jackson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jackson is located in East Feliciana Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,707 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <1>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Zachary
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Zachary is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zachary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zachary <1>
    • Slaughter
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Converse ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Converse is located in West Feliciana Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse

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

Newspapers Published in Riddle ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riddle.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riddle, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riddle.

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 helpful 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 Riddle:

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>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 Riddle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Riddle) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.