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 Willow Ridge (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 Willow Ridge. 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 Willow Ridge ...
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 Willow Ridge: Willow Rdg. (or less commonly used: Willow Rdge. or Willow Ridg.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Willow Ridge. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Willow Ridge.
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 Counties/Parishes ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest 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 south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties/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 counties/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Willow Ridge is located in Caddo 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 Caddo Parish: Lafayette (AR), Miller (AR), Bossier, De Soto, Red River, Cass (TX), Harrison (TX), Marion (TX) & Panola (TX).
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Willow Ridge. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willow Ridge:
- Caddo Parish (The home parish of Willow Ridge)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Longwood Village
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Longwood Village is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood Village
- Western Hills Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Normandy Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Normandy Village is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normandy Village
- Shreveport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Silver Pine Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Silver Pine Village is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Pine Village
- Chateau Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chateau Village is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateau Village
- Reisor
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Reisor is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reisor
- Edgewood Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Edgewood Village is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood Village
- South Towne Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- South Towne Heights is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Towne Heights
- Summer Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Summer Grove is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Grove
- Blanchard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Greenwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Bienville Parish
- Armistead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Armistead is located in Bienville Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armistead
- Bossier Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Bossier City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Parkland Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Parkland Village is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkland Village
- Espanita Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Espanita Village is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Espanita Village
- Red Chute
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Red Chute is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Chute
- Bodcau
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bodcau is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bodcau
- Benton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Eastwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Eastwood is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Elm Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Fillmore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Fillmore is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fillmore
- Haughton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Princeton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Alden Bridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Alden Bridge is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden Bridge
- De Soto Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Stonewall
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Frierson
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Gloster
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Keachi
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Keachi is located in De Soto Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keachi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Grand Cane
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Longstreet
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Screamerville ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Screamerville is located in De Soto Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamerville
- Red River Parish
- Westdale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Westdale is located in Red River Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westdale
- Webster Parish
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Doyline
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Yellow Pine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Yellow Pine is located in Webster Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Pine
- Buckhorn ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Buckhorn is located in Webster Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Dixie Inn
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Dixie Inn is located in Webster Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie Inn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
- Harrison County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Waskom
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Jonesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Elysian Fields
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Uncertain
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Karnack
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Scottsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Baldwin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Baldwin is located in Harrison County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
- Pope City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pope City is located in Harrison County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope City
- Panola County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Panola
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- De Berry
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Midyett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Midyett is located in Panola County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midyett
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willow Ridge, see our Parish-by-Parish Page for Willow Ridge.
Cemeteries Near Willow Ridge ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willow Ridge.
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 Willow Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willow Ridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Zion Rest Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jewella Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Round Grove Memorial Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Star Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hebrew Rest Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Forest Park West Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park West Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Park West Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Shreveport.
- The Forest Park West Cemetery has also been known as:
- Forest Park Cemetery East
- Forest Park Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #67545 <2>
- Forest Park East Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park East Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Park East Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Shreveport.
- The Forest Park East Cemetery has also been known as:
- Forest Park Cemetery East
- Forest Park Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #67544 <2>
- Hebrew Rest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Oakland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bethlehem MB Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lincoln Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (178 more) ...
- Centuries Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- McMillan Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Carver Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
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 Willow Ridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willow Ridge.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willow Ridge, with the one closest to Willow Ridge listed first.
- Jewella ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jewella is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewella
- Flournoy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Shreveport
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Reisor
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Reisor is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reisor
- La Rosen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- La Rosen is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Rosen
- Bossier City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Blanchard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Greenwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brownlee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Brownlee is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownlee
- Vanceville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Vanceville is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanceville
- Longwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Longwood is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Keithville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Curtis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Curtis is located in Bossier Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
- Spring Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Ridge is located in Caddo Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Ridge
- Waskom
(13 miles [20.9 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 Willow Ridge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willow Ridge.
Newspapers Published in Willow Ridge ...
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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willow Ridge.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willow Ridge, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willow Ridge.
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 Willow Ridge:
- Websites specific to Louisiana
- Pages specific to Caddo Parish
- Genealogy information for nearby parishes
- Bienville Parish
- Bossier Parish
- De Soto Parish
- Red River Parish
- Webster Parish
- Harrison County
- Panola County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Louisiana
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 Willow Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Willow Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |