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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 Fern Hill (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 Fern Hill. 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 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.

Fern Hill is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Clatsop, Multnomah, Washington, Clark (WA), Cowlitz (WA) & Wahkiakum (WA).

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Fern Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Beaver Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Springs
      • Beaver Springs is located in Columbia County
    • Rainier
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
      • Rainier is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <2>
    • Prescott
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prescott have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Prescott is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Goble
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
      • Goble is located in Columbia County
    • Reuben
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
      • Reuben is located in Columbia County
    • Mayger
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
      • Mayger is located in Columbia County
    • Quincy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
      • Quincy is located in Columbia County
    • Deer Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clatskanie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Pittsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
      • Pittsburg is located in Columbia County
    • Columbia City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Helens
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Helens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Helens
      • Saint Helens is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,071 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Helens <2>
  • Clatsop County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Westport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Clifton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
      • Clifton is located in Clatsop County
    • Jewell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jewell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
      • Jewell is located in Clatsop County
    • Brownsmead
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsmead
      • Brownsmead is located in Clatsop County
    • Vinemaple
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vinemaple. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinemaple
      • Vinemaple is located in Clatsop County
  • Multnomah County
    • Burlington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Multnomah County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Buxton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Manning
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Timber
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountaindale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mountaindale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountaindale
      • Mountaindale is located in Washington County
    • Banks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Banks is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,034 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Banks <2>
  • Clark County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Woodland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • La Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Etna
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Etna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
      • Etna is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Ridgefield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pioneer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Pioneer is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Sara
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sara. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sara
      • Sara is located in Clark County (WA)
    • King Corner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Corner
      • King Corner is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Cherry Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
      • Cherry Grove is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Dollar's Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dollar's Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar's Corner
      • Dollar's Corner is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Amboy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Felida
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Felida have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felida
      • Felida is located in Clark County (WA)
    • Lewisville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
      • Lewisville is located in Clark County (WA)
  • Cowlitz County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Carrolls
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Longview
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
      • Longview is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,515 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longview <2>
    • Kalama
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalama
      • Kalama is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,844 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kalama <2>
    • Kelso
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <2>
    • West Longview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Longview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Longview
      • West Longview is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Rose Valley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
      • Rose Valley is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Longview Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longview Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview Heights
      • Longview Heights is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Coal Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
      • Coal Creek is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Ostrander
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostrander
      • Ostrander is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Stella
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stella. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
      • Stella is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Oak Point
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
      • Oak Point is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Castle Rock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Lewis County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Vader
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vader
      • Vader is located in Lewis County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 677 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vader <2>
    • Toledo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
      • Toledo is located in Lewis County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 785 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toledo <2>
    • Winlock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winlock
      • Winlock is located in Lewis County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,490 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winlock <2>
  • Wahkiakum County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fern Hill, with the one closest to Fern Hill listed first.
    • Eagle Cliff
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eagle Cliff. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Cliff
      • Eagle Cliff is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
    • East Cathlamet
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Cathlamet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cathlamet
      • East Cathlamet is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
    • Cathlamet
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Skamokawa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Fern Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fern Hill.

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

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

  • Woodbine Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodbine Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Woodbine Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #495875 <4>
  • Apiary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Knights of Pythias Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Dibblee House
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dibblee House
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Dibblee House. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2426176 <4>
  • Green Mtn. Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Hudson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Kobel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Welter Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Welter Family Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Welter Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2269447 <4>
  • Prescott Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prescott Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Prescott Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39313 <4>
  • Neer City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Jones Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Solo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (87 more) ...
    • Longview Memorial Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kalama IOOF Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kalama IOOF Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kalama IOOF Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Kalama (WA).
      • The Kalama IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
      • IOOF Cemetery
      • IOOF Cemetery
      • Kalama IOOF Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2146334 <4>
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Apiary ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apiary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apiary
    • Apiary is located in Columbia County
  • Rainier
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
    • Rainier is located in Columbia County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <2>
  • Reuben
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
    • Reuben is located in Columbia County
  • Goble
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
    • Goble is located in Columbia County
  • Carrolls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Kalama
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalama
    • Kalama is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,844 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kalama <2>
  • Kelso
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <2>
  • Mayger
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
    • Mayger is located in Columbia County
  • Deer Island
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Lexington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
    • Lexington is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
  • Clatskanie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Stella
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stella. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
    • Stella is located in Cowlitz County (WA)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Pittsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
      • Pittsburg is located in Columbia County
    • Mist
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mist have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mist
      • Mist is located in Columbia County
    • Columbia City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Fern Hill ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fern Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fern Hill, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fern Hill.

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 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 Fern Hill:

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

The official website for Columbia County: www.co.columbia.or.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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- Fern Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fern Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.0512, Longitude: -122.9901       In this case, the coordinates for Fern Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Fern Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025