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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 Galesville (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 Galesville. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Galesville is located in Douglas 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 Douglas County: Coos, Curry, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath & Lane.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Galesville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Azalea
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Glendale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Canyonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Riddle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Riddle is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
      • Former names for Riddle:
      • Riddles
      • Riddlesburg
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riddle <1>
    • Tri City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Tri City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tri City
    • Days Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Perdue ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Perdue is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdue
    • Myrtle Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Tiller
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dillard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Brockway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Brockway is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockway
    • Winston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Tenmile
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Wimer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Wimer is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wimer
    • Spikenard ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Spikenard is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spikenard
    • Rogue River
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Sams Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sams Valley is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Valley
    • Trail
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Gold Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Point ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rock Point is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Point
    • Shady Cove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Josephine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Galesville, with the one closest to Galesville listed first.
    • Golden ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Golden is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
    • Wolf Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenback ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Greenback is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenback
    • Placer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Placer is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placer
    • Sunny Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Leland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Leland is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
    • Hugo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Hugo is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
    • Three Pines
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Three Pines is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Pines
    • Merlin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Galice
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Galice is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galice
    • Grants Pass
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Fruitdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Fruitdale is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitdale
    • Redwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Redwood is located in Josephine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood

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

Cemeteries Near Galesville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Galesville.

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

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

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

  • Quines Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Glendale Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wolf Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Placer Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Canyonville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Lower Wolf Creek Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • William D Bradley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Riddle Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Bland Mtn. Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lavadoure Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Myrtle Creek Pioneer Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (46 more) ...
    • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Myrtle Creek IOOF Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bryant Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Galesville had a population of 24 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Glendale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wolf Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Leland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Leland is located in Josephine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
  • Riddle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Riddle is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,216 people
    • Former names for Riddle:
    • Riddles
    • Riddlesburg
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riddle <1>
  • Days Creek
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Perdue ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Perdue is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdue
  • Myrtle Creek
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Wimer
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Wimer is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wimer
  • Merlin
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Ruckles
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Ruckles is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruckles
  • Spikenard ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Spikenard is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spikenard
  • Grants Pass
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Olalla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Olalla is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olalla
    • Brockway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Brockway is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockway
    • Sams Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sams Valley is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Valley

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

Newspapers Published in Galesville ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Galesville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Galesville, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Galesville.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Galesville:

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 Galesville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Galesville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.