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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 Dawson (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 Dawson. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Dawson is located in Benton 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 Benton County: Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion & Polk.

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

  • Benton County     (The home county of Dawson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Bellfountain Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Monroe
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jennyopolis ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennyopolis
      • Jennyopolis is located in Benton County
    • Alsea
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Flynn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn
      • Flynn is located in Benton County
    • Philomath
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Wren
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wren. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
      • Wren is located in Benton County
    • Corvallis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Blodgett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lewisburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
      • Lewisburg is located in Benton County
    • Summit
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Benton County
    • Kings Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Adair Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adair Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adair Village
      • Adair Village is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 872 people
  • Lane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Blachly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cheshire
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Junction City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <1>
    • Franklin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
      • Franklin is located in Lane County
    • Alvadore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpha
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alpha. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
      • Alpha is located in Lane County
    • Elmira
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Fern Ridge Shores
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Ridge Shores
      • Fern Ridge Shores is located in Lane County
    • Noti
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Veneta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Veneta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <1>
    • Santa Clara
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Clara have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Clara
      • Santa Clara is located in Lane County
    • Coburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • River Road
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Road have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
      • River Road is located in Lane County
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Tidewater
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Westwood Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Village
      • Westwood Village is located in Lincoln County
    • Eddyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elk City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk City
      • Elk City is located in Lincoln County
    • Pioneer City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer City
      • Pioneer City is located in Lincoln County
  • Linn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Harrisburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Halsey
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Oakville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oakville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
      • Oakville is located in Linn County
    • Shedd
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Boston ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
      • Boston is located in Linn County
      • Boston has also been known as:
      • Boston Mills
    • Tangent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tangent have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangent
      • Tangent is located in Linn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,357 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tangent <1>
    • Brownsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <1>
    • Albany
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Irvinville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irvinville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvinville
      • Irvinville is located in Linn County
    • Crawfordsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Draperville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draperville
      • Draperville is located in Linn County
    • Lebanon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Lebanon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lebanon
      • South Lebanon is located in Linn County
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Airlie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
      • Airlie is located in Polk County
    • Lewisville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lewisville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
      • Lewisville is located in Polk County
    • Buena Vista
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Buena Vista. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista is located in Polk County

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

Cemeteries Near Dawson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dawson.

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

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

  • Alpine Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Bellfountain Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Reeves Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reeves Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Reeves Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • The Reeves Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Edwards Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39328 <4>
  • St. Rose Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Monroe Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Oscar Dow Burial Site
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oscar Dow Burial Site
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Oscar Dow Burial Site. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2318697 <4>
  • Powell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Powell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Powell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Powell Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Homeplace Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39306 <4>
  • McBee Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McBee Family Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the McBee Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • The McBee Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • McBee Burial Site
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2245354 <4>
  • Butte Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butte Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38624 <4>
  • Irwin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irwin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irwin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38974 <4>
  • Winkle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winkle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winkle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Winkle Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Small Butte Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39572 <4>
  • Oakridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (135 more) ...
    • Henderson Family Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henderson Family Cemetery
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Henderson Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • The Henderson Family Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Henderson Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1994689 <4>
    • Ferguson Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ferguson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ferguson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Armstrong Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Armstrong Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Armstrong Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38550 <4>

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 Dawson in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Dawson.

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

  • Monroe
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Alsea
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Peoria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peoria have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoria
    • Peoria is located in Linn County
  • Philomath
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Junction City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 <1>
  • Harrisburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Franklin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Lane County
  • Halsey
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Wren
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wren. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
    • Wren is located in Benton County
  • Oakville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oakville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
    • Oakville is located in Linn County
  • Harris
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Harris is located in Benton County
  • Shedd
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Corvallis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Blodgett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Rowland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rowland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowland
      • Rowland is located in Linn County

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

Newspapers Published in Dawson ...

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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dawson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dawson, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dawson.

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 websites either 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 Dawson:

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

The official website for Benton County: www.co.benton.or.us/

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Dawson, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Dawson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dawson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.3607, Longitude: -123.4118       In this case, the coordinates for Dawson have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025