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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 West Monroe (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 West Monroe. 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 West Monroe ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Monroe: W. Monroe

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

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 ...

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 southwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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 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, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

West Monroe is located in Ouachita 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 Ouachita Parish: Caldwell, Jackson, Lincoln, Morehouse, Richland & Union.

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

  • Ouachita Parish     (The home parish of West Monroe)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe listed first.
    • Monroe
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Claiborne
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Claiborne is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claiborne
    • Northpark Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Northpark Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northpark Village
    • Pino Bayou Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pino Bayou Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pino Bayou Village
    • Spanish City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Spanish City is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish City
    • Richwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Richwood is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,375 people
    • Leisure Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Leisure Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Village
    • Swartz
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Fairbanks
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lapine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Forksville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Calhoun
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Caldwell Parish
  • Franklin Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe listed first.
    • Big Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Big Creek is located in Franklin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
    • Baskin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Baskinton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe listed first.
    • Eros
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Eros is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eros
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eros <1>
    • Nash ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Nash is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
    • Cartwright
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Chatham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dalley ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Dalley is located in Jackson Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalley
    • Zoar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe listed first.
    • Averit ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Averit is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averit
    • Sibley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Choudrant
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Cedarton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Ruston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Vienna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Vienna is located in Lincoln Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 365 people
    • Unionville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Morehouse Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe listed first.
    • Windsor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Collinston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Oak Ridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Bastrop
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mer Rouge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Richland Parish
  • Union Parish

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

Cemeteries Near West Monroe ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Monroe.

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 West Monroe - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Monroe, with the one closest to West Monroe 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Monroe had a population of 447 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, West Monroe had a population of 12,086 people.

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

  • Monroe
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Cheniere
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cheniere is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheniere
  • Sicard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Sicard is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sicard
  • Millhaven
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Millhaven is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millhaven
  • Lapine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Forksville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Cadeville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cadeville is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cadeville
  • Point
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Point is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point
  • Calhoun
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Logtown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Logtown is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logtown
  • Walnut Lane ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Walnut Lane is located in Union Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Lane
  • De Siard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • De Siard is located in Ouachita Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Siard
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ouachita City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Indian Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Indian Village is located in Ouachita Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Colsons ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Colsons is located in Union Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colsons

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of West Monroe ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Monroe.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of West Monroe. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of West Monroe and those printed in the larger area surrounding West Monroe.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within Less than 2 miles<4> of West Monroe.

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 West Monroe:

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 West Monroe, 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 from Point A (ie- West Monroe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.