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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 Detroit (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 Detroit. 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.

Detroit is located in Marion 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 Marion County: Benton, Clackamas, Deschutes, Linn, Polk, Wasco & Yamhill.

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

  • Marion County     (The home county of Detroit)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Detroit, with the one closest to Detroit listed first.
    • Mehama
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Silver Falls City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Falls City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Falls City
      • Silver Falls City is located in Marion County
    • Drake Crossing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake Crossing
      • Drake Crossing is located in Marion County
  • Clackamas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Detroit, with the one closest to Detroit listed first.
    • Glen Avon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Avon
      • Glen Avon is located in Clackamas County
    • Molalla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Linn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Detroit, with the one closest to Detroit listed first.
    • Idanha
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • New Idanha
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bryant City ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bryant City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant City
      • Bryant City is located in Linn County
    • Gates
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates
      • Gates is located in Linn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 515 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gates <1>
    • Mill City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
      • Mill City is located in Linn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,983 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mill City <1>
    • Lyons
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jordan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
      • Jordan is located in Linn County
    • Cascadia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lacomb
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacomb
      • Lacomb is located in Linn County

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

Newspapers Published in Detroit ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Detroit.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Detroit, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Detroit.

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 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 Detroit:

Cemeteries Near Detroit ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Detroit.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • John Swallow Grave
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the John Swallow Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Swallow Grave
  • Fox Valley Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fox Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fox Valley Cemetery
  • Whitcomb Island Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitcomb Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitcomb Island Cemetery
  • John Shelton Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the John Shelton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the John Shelton Cemetery
  • Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery
  • Jordan Catholic Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jordan Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jordan Catholic Cemetery
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
  • Pietrock Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pietrock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pietrock Cemetery
  • Humphrey Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Humphrey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Humphrey Cemetery
  • Bilyeu Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bilyeu Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bilyeu Cemetery
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Russellville Community Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Holy Rosary Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Rosary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Rosary Cemetery

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 in 1895, Detroit had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Detroit had a population of 226 people.

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

  • Niagara
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niagara have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niagara
    • Niagara is located in Marion County
  • Gates
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates
    • Gates is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 515 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gates <1>
  • Mill City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
    • Mill City is located in Linn County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,983 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mill City <1>
  • Fox Valley
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Valley
    • Fox Valley is located in Linn County
  • Lyons
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Hullt ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hullt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hullt
    • Hullt is located in Marion County
  • Jordan
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
    • Jordan is located in Linn County
  • Wilhoit
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilhoit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilhoit
    • Wilhoit is located in Clackamas County

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

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

The official website for Marion County: www.co.marion.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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Detroit) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Detroit. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.7349, Longitude: -122.1503    
<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 Detroit, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024