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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 Elgin (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 Elgin. 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 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.

Elgin is located in Union 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 Union County: Baker, Grant, Umatilla & Wallowa.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Elgin)
  • Umatilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Tollgate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bingham Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Gibbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gibbon
      • From Elgin to Gibbon
    • Meacham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Weston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
      • Weston is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weston <1>
  • Wallowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elgin, with the one closest to Elgin listed first.
    • Wallowa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallowa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallowa
      • Wallowa is located in Wallowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallowa <1>
    • Maxville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Evans
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Lostine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Promise ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Elgin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elgin.

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

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

  • Galloway Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Elgin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elgin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elgin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Summerville - Imbler Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lower Cove Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Ackles Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ackles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ackles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Island City Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Island City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Island City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bramlet Memorial Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bramlet Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bramlet Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Elgin had a population of 227 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Elgin had a population of 1,801 people.

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

  • Summerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Imbler
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Alicel
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alicel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicel
    • Alicel is located in Union County
  • Island City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • North Fork
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
    • North Fork is located in Umatilla County
  • La Grande
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Wallowa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallowa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallowa
    • Wallowa is located in Wallowa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallowa <1>
  • Perry
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
    • Perry is located in Union County
  • Cove
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Huron
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
    • Huron is located in Umatilla County
  • Hilgard
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hilgard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilgard
    • Hilgard is located in Union County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hilgard
    • From Elgin to Hilgard
  • Hot Lake
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hot Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Lake
    • Hot Lake is located in Union County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hot Lake
    • From Elgin to Hot Lake
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Gibbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gibbon
      • From Elgin to Gibbon
    • Kamela
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kamela have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamela
      • Kamela is located in Union County
    • Union
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Elgin ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elgin.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Elgin. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Elgin and those printed in the larger area surrounding Elgin.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Elgin.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Elgin:

The official website for Elgin: www.cityofelginor.org/

The official website for Union County: www.union-county.org/

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>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Imbler and Summerville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<5>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- Elgin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elgin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5683, Longitude: -117.9196    
<6>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.
<7>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 Elgin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025