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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Turtle Lake. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Turtle Lake to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Turtle Lake, please Contact Us.

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 Turtle Lake (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 Turtle Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Turtle Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Turtle Lake: Turtle Lk.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Turtle Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Turtle Lake.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and doctors 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Turtle Lake is historic, it would have been located within present day Concordia 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 Concordia Parish: Avoyelles, Catahoula, Pointe Coupee, Tensas, West Feliciana, Adams (MS) & Wilkinson (MS).

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

  • Concordia Parish     (The home parish of Turtle Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • West Ferriday
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Ferriday is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ferriday
    • Ferriday
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Ridgecrest
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Ridgecrest is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgecrest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
    • Sycamore
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Sycamore is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • Athlone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Athlone is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athlone
    • Dunbarton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Dunbarton is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbarton
    • Chevey Chase
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Chevey Chase is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chevey Chase
    • Clayton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wildsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Vidalia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Monterey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Monterey is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
    • Armagh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Armagh is located in Concordia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armagh
  • Catahoula Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Trinity
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Trinity is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
    • Greenville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Greenville is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Wildwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Wildwood is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Jonesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Parhams
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Parhams is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parhams
    • Utility
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Utility is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utility
    • Sicily Island
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Sicily Island is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sicily Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
    • Harrisonburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rhinehart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Aimwell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Enterprise
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Enterprise is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Rosefield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosefield is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosefield
  • Franklin Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Elam
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Elam is located in Franklin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elam
    • Wisner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Extension
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Extension is located in Franklin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Extension
    • Gilbert
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Jigger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • La Salle Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Sharp Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
    • Jena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jena is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jena <2>
  • Tensas Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Highland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Highland is located in Tensas Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Waterproof
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Adams County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Turtle Lake, with the one closest to Turtle Lake listed first.
    • Carthage
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Carthage is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
    • Natchez
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Natchez is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natchez
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,362 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natchez <2>
    • Cloverdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cloverdale is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
    • Washington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Washington is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
    • Selma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Selma is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Jeannette
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jeannette is located in Adams County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeannette
  • Jefferson County (MS)
    • Rodney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Rodney is located in Jefferson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodney
  • Wilkinson County (MS)
    • Artonish
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Artonish is located in Wilkinson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artonish

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

Cemeteries Near Turtle Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Turtle Lake.

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 Turtle Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Turner Acres Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Eva Dale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ferriday Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cypress Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Athlone Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Sawyer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Lambert Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Warren Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Cross Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (235 more) ...
    • Crane Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Minorca Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • St. Paul Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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.

Turtle Lake itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Frogmore
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Frogmore is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogmore
  • Sycamore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sycamore is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
  • Morville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Morville is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morville
  • Chevey Chase
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Chevey Chase is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chevey Chase
  • Taconey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Taconey is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taconey
  • Clayton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lismore
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lismore is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lismore
  • Vidalia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Bullitt Bayou
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Bullitt Bayou is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullitt Bayou
  • Trinity
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Trinity is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
  • Security
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Security is located in Catahoula Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Security
  • Monterey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Monterey is located in Concordia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wildwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Wildwood is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Greenville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Greenville is located in Catahoula Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Jonesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Turtle Lake ...

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 115 newspapers that have been published in the area around Turtle Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Turtle Lake, 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 Turtle Lake.

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 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 Turtle Lake:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Turtle Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Turtle Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.