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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 Ash (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 Ash. 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 Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Ash is located in Douglas County.

To see how the shape of Oregon's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Douglas County: Coos, Curry, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath & Lane.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Ash)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ash, with the one closest to Ash listed first.
    • Scottsburg ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kellogg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Kellogg is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
    • Elkton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Reedsport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gardiner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Winchester Bay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Umpqua City ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Umpqua City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpqua City
    • Umpqua
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleveland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Cleveland is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Isadore
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Isadore is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isadore
    • Drain
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Drain is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drain <1>
    • Rice Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Coos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ash, with the one closest to Ash listed first.
    • Allegany
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeside
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Saunders Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Saunders Lake is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saunders Lake
    • Cooston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cooston is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooston
    • Glasgow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Glasgow is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
    • Eastside
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bunker Hill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Coos Bay
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • North Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Empire
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Empire is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
    • Coos City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Coos City is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coos City
    • Dora
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Dora is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dora
  • Lane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ash, with the one closest to Ash listed first.
    • Westlake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dunes City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Dunes City is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunes City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,412 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ash ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ash.

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

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

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

  • Scottsburg Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Henderer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wells Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Allegany Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kellogg Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Dimmick Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Elkton Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Templeton Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Coos River Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lower Smith River Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (48 more) ...
    • Lakeside Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Gardiner Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Coles Valley Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 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 Ash in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ash.

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

  • Scottsburg ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Kellogg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Kellogg is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
  • Elkton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Sulphur Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Millwood
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Millwood is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
  • Gardiner
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Coles Valley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Coles Valley is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles Valley
  • Cleveland
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleveland is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
  • Stephens
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Stephens is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephens
  • Empire
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Empire is located in Coos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
  • Libby
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Libby is located in Coos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libby
  • Isadore
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Isadore is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isadore
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Fairview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairview is located in Coos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Rice Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Yoncalla
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Ash ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ash.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ash, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ash.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Ash:

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