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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 Athena (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 Athena. 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 and doctors 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.

Athena is located in Umatilla 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 Umatilla County: Grant, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Benton (WA), Columbia (WA) & Walla Walla (WA).

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

  • Umatilla County     (The home county of Athena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athena, with the one closest to Athena listed first.
    • Weston
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Adams
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Mountain
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
    • Helix
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Milton - Freewater
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gibbon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
    • Havana
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Havana is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Cayuse
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Umapine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Umapine is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umapine
    • Kirkpatrick
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kirkpatrick is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkpatrick
    • Bingham Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Bingham Springs is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham Springs
    • Calhounville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Calhounville is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
    • Mission
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Mission is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
  • Walla Walla County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Athena, with the one closest to Athena listed first.
    • Calhounville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Calhounville is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
    • Mojonnier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Mojonnier is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mojonnier
    • College Place
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Garrett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Garrett is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
    • Lowden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Touchet
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Walla Walla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Kibler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Kibler is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibler
    • Rulo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Rulo is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
    • Wallula Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction
    • Dixie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wallula
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Wallula is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula
    • Berryman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Berryman is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryman

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

Cemeteries Near Athena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Athena.

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

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

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

  • Athena Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Key Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Weston Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Greasewood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greasewood Cemetery
    • The Greasewood Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Gallaher Cemetery
  • Helix Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Finland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Homeli Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Red Elk Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Old City Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • German Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bowlus Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Ford Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Cemetery
      • The Ford Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Ballou Cemetery
      • Valley Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38788 <2>
    • Agency Indian Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Andrews Mission Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)

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 Athena had a population of 495 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Athena had a population of 1,140 people.

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

  • Weston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Adams
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Downing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Downing is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
  • Blue Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
  • Helix
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Havana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Havana is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
  • Gibbon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
  • Cayuse
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Stanton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Stanton is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
  • Fulton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fulton is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
  • Mission
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mission is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
  • Spofford
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Spofford is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Vansycle
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Vansycle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vansycle
    • Pendleton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Touchet
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Athena ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Athena.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Athena. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Athena and those printed in the larger area surrounding Athena.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Athena.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Athena:

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 Athena, 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- Athena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.