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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Ella (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 Ella. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ella is located in Morrow 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 Morrow County: Gilliam, Grant, Umatilla, Wheeler, Benton (WA) & Klickitat (WA).

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

  • Morrow County     (The home county of Ella)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ella, with the one closest to Ella listed first.
    • Ione
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Alpine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Alpine is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Lexington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Boardman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Pine City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Pine City is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
    • Heppner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Irrigon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Gooseberry
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Gooseberry is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gooseberry
    • Eightmile
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Eightmile is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eightmile
  • Gilliam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ella, with the one closest to Ella listed first.
    • Olex
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Olex is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olex
    • Arlington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Clem
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Clem is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clem
  • Umatilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ella, with the one closest to Ella listed first.
    • Ordnance ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ordnance is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordnance
    • Hinkle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hinkle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle
    • Hermiston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Echo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Echo is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>
    • Stanfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Umatilla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Benton County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ella, with the one closest to Ella listed first.
    • Paterson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Plymouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Plymouth is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ella, with the one closest to Ella listed first.
    • Roosevelt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dot
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Dot is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dot

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

Cemeteries Near Ella ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ella.

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

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

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

  • Wells Spring Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Morgan Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Highview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Petteys Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Tommy Dean Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tommy Dean Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tommy Dean Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast of Arlington.
  • Eightmile Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Lexington Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Sand Hollow Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Olex Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Arlington Masonic Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Flett Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Sixprong Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Valby Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Junkins Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)

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 in 1895, Ella had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Cecil
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cecil is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Ione
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Alpine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Alpine is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Lexington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Willows
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Willows is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
  • Galloway ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Galloway is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
  • Olex
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Olex is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olex
  • Arlington
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Heppner
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Clem
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Clem is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clem
  • Gooseberry
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Gooseberry is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gooseberry
  • Eightmile
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Eightmile is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eightmile

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

Newspapers Published in Ella ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ella.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ella, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ella.

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 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 Ella:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ella) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Ella, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.