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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 Elwood (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 Elwood. 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 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 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.

Elwood is located in Clackamas 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 Clackamas County: Hood River, Marion, Multnomah, Wasco, Washington & Yamhill.

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

  • Clackamas County     (The home county of Elwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
    • Springwater
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Springwater is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwater
    • Highland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Highland is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Colton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Estacada
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Currinsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Currinsville is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Currinsville
    • George
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • George is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
    • Beavercreek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Eagle Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Dover
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Dover is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Carus
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Carus is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carus
    • Glen Avon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Glen Avon is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Avon
    • Liberal
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Liberal is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberal
    • Mulino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
    • Scotts Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Aurora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Butteville Station ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Butteville Station is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butteville Station
    • Hubbard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Donald
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • McKee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • McKee is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKee
    • Downs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Downs is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downs
    • Drake Crossing
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Drake Crossing is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake Crossing
    • Mount Angel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Butteville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Butteville is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butteville
    • Silverton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodburn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Champoeg ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Champoeg is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champoeg
  • Multnomah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
    • Gresham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Gresham is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110,031 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gresham <1>
    • Powell Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Powell Valley is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell Valley
    • Milwaukie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Corbett
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Hazelwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Hazelwood is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
    • Rockwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Rockwood is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
    • Troutdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Wood Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Woodstock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodstock is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodstock
    • Fairview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fulton ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Fulton is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Montavilla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Montavilla is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montavilla
    • Russellville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Russellville is located in Multnomah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
    • Durham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Durham is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,908 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durham <1>
    • King City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Tigard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Tigard is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigard
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 56,049 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tigard <1>
    • Metzger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Metzger is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metzger
    • Sherwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Middleton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Middleton is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Progress
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Progress is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progress
    • Raleigh Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Raleigh Hills is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh Hills
    • West Slope
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • West Slope is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Slope
    • Beaverton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Kinton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Kinton is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinton
    • Cedar Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedar Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Yamhill County
    • Newberg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Clark County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
    • Washougal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Camas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Camas is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,981 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Camas <1>
    • Fisher
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Fisher is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Cascade Park East
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Cascade Park West
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Cascade Park West is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade Park West
    • Fern Prairie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Fern Prairie is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Prairie
    • Mill Plain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Mill Plain is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Plain
    • Sunnyside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Sunnyside is located in Clark County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Skamania County (WA)
    • Cruzatt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Cruzatt is located in Skamania County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cruzatt

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

Cemeteries Near Elwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elwood.

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

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

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

  • Mt. Home Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Bonney Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Springwater Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Colton Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Highland.
    • The Highland Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fellows Cemetery
    • Highland Fellows Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2236228 <2>
  • Clarkes Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Viola Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Estacada Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Philip E. Linn Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philip E. Linn Pioneer Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Philip E. Linn Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Estacada.
    • The Philip E. Linn Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Wade Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1987380 <2>
  • Currin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Moehnke Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (159 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.<3>

While we didn't find Elwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Elwood.

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

  • Springwater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Springwater is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwater
  • Highland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Highland is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
  • Clarkes
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Clarkes is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkes
  • Viola
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Viola is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
  • Currinsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Currinsville is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Currinsville
  • Logan
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Logan is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
  • George
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • George is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
  • Union Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Union Mills is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
  • Dover
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dover is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
  • Eagle Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Carus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Carus is located in Clackamas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carus
  • Mulino
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Molalla
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Sandy is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,566 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sandy <1>
    • Wilhoit
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Wilhoit is located in Clackamas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilhoit

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

Newspapers Published in Elwood ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elwood, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elwood.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Elwood:

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 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.
<3>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 Elwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Elwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.