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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 Brownsville (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 Brownsville. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Brownsville is located in Linn 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 Linn County: Benton, Deschutes, Jefferson, Lane, Marion & Polk.

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

  • Linn County     (The home county of Brownsville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
    • Crawfordsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Boston ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Boston is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
      • Boston has also been known as:
      • Boston Mills
    • Halsey
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Shedd
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sodaville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Sodaville is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodaville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
    • South Lebanon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • South Lebanon is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lebanon
    • Holley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Holley is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holley
    • Lebanon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Waterloo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterloo is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
    • Irvinville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Irvinville is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvinville
    • Tangent
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Harrisburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
    • Jennyopolis ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jennyopolis is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennyopolis
    • Bellfountain Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Monroe
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • North Albany
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • North Albany is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Albany
    • Corvallis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewisburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lewisburg is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
    • Philomath
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Adair Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Adair Village is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
    • Flynn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Flynn is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn
    • Wellsdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Wellsdale is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsdale
    • Wren
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wren is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
    • Blodgett
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
    • Mabel
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Mabel is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
    • Marcola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Junction City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Coburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Cheshire
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • North Springfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • North Springfield is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Springfield
    • Santa Clara
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Santa Clara is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Clara
    • River Road
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • River Road is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
    • Franklin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Franklin is located in Lane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Springfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Thurston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Alvadore
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
    • Jefferson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Santiam City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Santiam City is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santiam City
    • Marion
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • West Stayton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Stayton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
    • Buena Vista
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Buena Vista is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Airlie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Airlie is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie

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

Cemeteries Near Brownsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brownsville.

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

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

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

  • Brownsville Pioneer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Pleasant Butte Baptist Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Blan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Claypool Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Wigle Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Finley Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley Pioneer Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Finley Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Crawfordsville.
    • The Finley Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2240880 <2>
  • Bunker Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Halsey Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Crawfordsville Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Dodge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Sand Ridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sand Ridge Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the west of Lebanon.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39401 <2>
  • Pugh Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (144 more) ...
    • Alford Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Masonic Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Brownsville had a population of 580 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Brownsville had a population of 1,838 people.

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

  • Plainview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Plainview is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
  • Crawfordsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Halsey
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Shedd
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Rowland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Rowland is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowland
  • Sodaville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sodaville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodaville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
  • Holley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Holley is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holley
  • Waterloo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterloo is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
  • Lebanon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Irvinville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Irvinville is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvinville
  • Tallman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Tallman is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallman
  • Peoria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Peoria is located in Linn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Harrisburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Tangent
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Fry is located in Linn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Brownsville ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brownsville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Brownsville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Brownsville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Brownsville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3> of Brownsville.

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 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 Brownsville:

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>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- Brownsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Brownsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.