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The Commemorative Quarter for Oregon





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 The Dalles (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 The Dalles. 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 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 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.

The Dalles is located in Wasco County and is the County Seat.

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 Wasco County: Clackamas, Gilliam, Hood River, Jefferson, Marion, Sherman, Wheeler & Klickitat (WA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near The Dalles ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of The Dalles.

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 The Dalles covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunset Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • GAR Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the GAR Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the GAR Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wish - Ham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wish - Ham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wish - Ham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Viewpoint Grave Island Memorial
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Viewpoint Grave Island Memorial
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Viewpoint Grave Island Memorial have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Petersburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Petersburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Petersburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eightmile Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eightmile Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eightmile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Obrist Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Obrist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Obrist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crawford Family Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rice Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rice Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rice Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hartland Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hartland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hartland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that The Dalles had a population of 3,015 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, The Dalles had a population of 15,581 people.

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

  • Rowena
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Boyd ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lyle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dufur
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mosier
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Nansene
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nansene. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nansene
    • Nansene is located in Wasco County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Nansene
    • From The Dalles to Nansene
  • Kingsley ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Biggs
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Biggs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggs
    • Biggs is located in Sherman County
  • White Salmon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Blockhouse
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Blockhouse. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockhouse
    • Blockhouse is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Blockhouse
    • From The Dalles to Blockhouse
  • Rufus
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rufus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rufus
    • Rufus is located in Sherman County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rufus <3>
  • Moro
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Wasco
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wasco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasco
      • Wasco is located in Sherman County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wasco <3>
    • Goldendale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilmer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilmer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
      • Gilmer is located in Klickitat County (WA)

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

Newspapers Published in The Dalles ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around The Dalles.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of The Dalles, 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 The Dalles.

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 The Dalles:

The official website for The Dalles: www.ci.the-dalles.or.us/

The official website for Wasco County: www.co.wasco.or.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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 The Dalles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Dalles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Dalles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5956, Longitude: -121.1810    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025