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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 Westfield (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 Westfield. 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 ...

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 northwest 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 north.

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 north 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.

Westfield is located in Assumption 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 Assumption Parish: Ascension, Iberia, Iberville, Lafourche, Saint James, Saint Martin, Saint Mary & Terrebonne.

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

  • Assumption Parish     (The home parish of Westfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Plaincourtville
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Plaincourtville is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plaincourtville
    • Magnolia
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Paincourtville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Brusle Saint Vincent
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Brusle Saint Vincent is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brusle Saint Vincent
    • Plattenville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kessler
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Kessler is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kessler
    • Star
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grand Bayou
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Grand Bayou is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Bayou
    • Elm Hall
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Elm Hall is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Hall
    • Enola
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Glenwood is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Munsons
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Munsons is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munsons
  • Ascension Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Barton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Donaldsonville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Darrow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Aben
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cofield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Burnside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Geismar
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Southwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Southwood is located in Ascension Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwood
    • Gonzales
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Sorrento
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Cornerview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cornerview is located in Ascension Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerview
    • Brittany
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • East Baton Rouge Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Burtville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Gardere
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Gardere is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardere
    • Oak Hills Place
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Oak Hills Place is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hills Place
    • Perkins Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Perkins Village is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins Village
    • Village Saint George
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Village Saint George is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Saint George
    • Lynwood Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Lynwood Village is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynwood Village
    • Old Jefferson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Old Jefferson is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Jefferson
    • Essen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Inniswold
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Shenandoah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Shenandoah is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah
    • Westminster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Westminster is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
    • Woodshire Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Woodshire Village is located in East Baton Rouge Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodshire Village
  • Iberville Parish
  • Lafourche Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Chackbay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Chackbay is located in Lafourche Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chackbay
    • Thibodaux
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Acadia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kraemer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Livingston Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • French Settlement
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Port Vincent
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Port Vincent is located in Livingston Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Vincent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
  • Saint James Parish
  • Saint John the Baptist Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Wallace
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wallace is located in Saint John the Baptist Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace
    • Mount Airy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Garyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Saint Martin Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Bayou Geneve
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Bayou Geneve is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Geneve
    • Stephenville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Stephenville is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephenville
    • Bayou Chene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Saint Mary Parish
  • Terrebonne Parish
  • West Baton Rouge Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield listed first.
    • Addis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Brusly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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>

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

Cemeteries Near Westfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Westfield.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Westfield, with the one closest to Westfield 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 Westfield in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Westfield.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Westfield ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Westfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Westfield, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Westfield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Westfield:

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 Westfield, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Westfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.