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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 Bethel (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 Bethel. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 east contained birth and death records; the county to the south 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.

Bethel is located in Lane County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lane County: Benton, Deschutes, Douglas, Klamath, Lincoln & Linn.

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

  • Lane County     (The home county of Bethel)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • River Road
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Road have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
      • River Road is located in Lane County
    • Eugene
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Santa Clara
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Clara have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Clara
      • Santa Clara is located in Lane County
    • Coburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • North Springfield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Springfield
      • North Springfield is located in Lane County
    • Springfield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Alvadore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Goshen
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goshen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Lane County
    • Fern Ridge Shores
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Ridge Shores
      • Fern Ridge Shores is located in Lane County
    • Thurston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Franklin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Lane County
    • Veneta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Veneta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veneta
      • Veneta is located in Lane County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,076 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Veneta <2>
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Monroe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellfountain Junction
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jennyopolis ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jennyopolis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennyopolis
      • Jennyopolis is located in Benton County
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Curtin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Drain
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drain
      • Drain is located in Douglas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drain <2>
  • Linn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Harrisburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Halsey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Brownsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
      • Brownsville is located in Linn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,838 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownsville <2>
    • Crawfordsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Holley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holley
      • Holley is located in Linn County
    • Boston ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Boston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
      • Boston is located in Linn County
      • Boston has also been known as:
      • Boston Mills
    • Shedd
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Bethel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethel.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Mulkey Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mulkey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mulkey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Lawn Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lawn Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gillespie Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gillespie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gillespie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lane Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Eugene.
    • The Mt. Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39164 <4>
  • Eugene Masonic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eugene Masonic Cemetery
    • The Eugene Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Eugene AF & AM Lodge #11 Masonic Cemetery
    • Masonic Cemetery
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunset Hills Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Hills Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Hills Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Resthaven Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Resthaven Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Resthaven Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurel Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Eugene.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39222 <4>
  • Luper Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (108 more) ...
    • Old Springfield IOOF Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Springfield IOOF Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Springfield IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Springfield IOOF Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Springfield IOOF Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Springfield IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Coburg IOOF Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coburg IOOF Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coburg IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

While we didn't find Bethel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bethel.

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

  • Eugene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Irving
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irving have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
    • Irving is located in Lane County
  • Coburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Springfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Goshen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goshen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Goshen is located in Lane County
  • Natron
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natron
    • Natron is located in Lane County
  • Thurston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Franklin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Lane County
  • Crow
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
    • Crow is located in Lane County
  • Hadleyville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hadleyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadleyville
    • Hadleyville is located in Lane County
  • Cresswell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Junction City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
    • Junction City is located in Lane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Junction City <2>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Mohawk
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mohawk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk
      • Mohawk is located in Lane County
    • Elmira
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Bethel ...

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 122 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethel, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethel.

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 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 Bethel:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bethel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lane County: www.lanecounty.org/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 Bethel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bethel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bethel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0651, Longitude: -123.1326       In this case, the coordinates for Bethel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025