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 Fox Valley (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 Fox Valley. 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.
Name Variations for Fox Valley ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Fox Valley: Fox Vly. (or less commonly used: Fox Vally. or Fox Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Fox Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Fox Valley.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 northeast 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 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 east 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.
Fox Valley is located in Linn 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 Linn County: Benton, Deschutes, Jefferson, Lane, Marion & Polk.
Below are the counties that are near Fox Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fox Valley:
- Linn County (The home county of Fox Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Mill City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lyons
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Gates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jordan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jordan is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Bryant City ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bryant City is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant City
- Lacomb
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lacomb is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacomb
- Scio
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- West Scio
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- West Scio is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Scio
- Crabtree
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Waterloo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Waterloo is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
- Idanha
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- New Idanha
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Lebanon
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Benton County
- North Albany
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- North Albany is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Albany
- Clackamas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Wilhoit
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Wilhoit is located in Clackamas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilhoit
- Molalla
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Glen Avon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Glen Avon is located in Clackamas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Avon
- Colton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Liberal
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Liberal is located in Clackamas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberal
- Needy ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Needy is located in Clackamas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needy
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Mehama
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Silver Falls City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Silver Falls City is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Falls City
- Drake Crossing
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Drake Crossing is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake Crossing
- Stayton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Sublimity
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- West Stayton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Aumsville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Detroit
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Macleay
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Macleay is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macleay
- Marion
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Scotts Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Silverton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Turner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Polk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Salemtowne
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Salemtowne is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salemtowne
- Buena Vista
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Buena Vista is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Eola
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Eola is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fox Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Fox Valley.
Cemeteries Near Fox Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fox Valley.
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 Fox Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fox Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Fox Valley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- John Shelton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fairview Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Humphrey Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jordan Catholic Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pietrock Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bilyeu Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wisner Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hobson - Whitney Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Campbell - Grier Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (117 more) ...
- Mountain View Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Union Hill Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- St. Boniface Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fox Valley had a population of 163 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fox Valley, with the one closest to Fox Valley listed first.
- Mill City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lyons
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Gates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jordan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jordan is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
- Hullt ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hullt is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hullt
- Niagara
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Niagara is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niagara
- Kingston
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Kingston is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Sublimity
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Stayton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ale ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Ale is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ale
- Scio
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Lacomb
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lacomb is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacomb
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Clymer ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clymer is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clymer
- West Stayton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Shelburn ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Shelburn is located in Linn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelburn
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Fox Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fox Valley.
Newspapers Published in Fox Valley ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fox Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fox Valley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fox Valley.
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 Fox Valley:
- Websites specific to Oregon
- Pages specific to Linn County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Clackamas County
- Marion County
- Polk County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Oregon
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> | 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 Fox Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Fox Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |