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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 Hood River (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 Hood River. 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 Hood River ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Hood River: Hood Riv.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Hood River is located in Hood River County and is the County Seat.

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 Hood River County: Clackamas, Multnomah, Wasco, Clark (WA), Klickitat (WA) & Skamania (WA).

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

  • Hood River County     (The home county of Hood River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hood River, with the one closest to Hood River listed first.
    • Pine Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
      • Pine Grove is located in Hood River County
    • Lenz
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenz
      • Lenz is located in Hood River County
      • Lenz has also been known as:
      • Sherman Spur
    • Odell
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Odell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
      • Odell is located in Hood River County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Odell <2>
    • Mount Hood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hood
      • Mount Hood is located in Hood River County
    • Parkdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
      • Parkdale is located in Hood River County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parkdale <2>
    • Cascade Locks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cascade Locks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade Locks
      • Cascade Locks is located in Hood River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cascade Locks <2>
  • Clackamas County
  • Multnomah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hood River, with the one closest to Hood River listed first.
    • Bonneville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonneville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
      • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County
    • Warrendale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrendale
      • Warrendale is located in Multnomah County
    • Dodson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
      • Dodson is located in Multnomah County
  • Wasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hood River, with the one closest to Hood River listed first.
    • Mosier
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ortley ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
      • Ortley is located in Wasco County
    • Rowena
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Chenoweth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chenoweth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenoweth
      • Chenoweth is located in Wasco County
    • City of The Dalles
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for City of The Dalles came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City of The Dalles
      • City of The Dalles is located in Wasco County
    • The Dalles
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairbanks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks
      • Fairbanks is located in Wasco County
    • Boyd ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Wasco County
    • Dufur
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Celilo Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Celilo Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Celilo Village
      • Celilo Village is located in Wasco County
    • Friend ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friend
      • Friend is located in Wasco County
    • Rice ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Wasco County
    • Kingsley ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
      • Kingsley is located in Wasco County
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hood River, with the one closest to Hood River listed first.
    • Bingen
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingen
      • Bingen is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bingen <2>
    • White Salmon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Husum
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • B Z Corner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for B Z Corner
      • B Z Corner is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Lyle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Appleton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dallesport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Trout Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Klickitat
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Wahkiacus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahkiacus
      • Wahkiacus is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Glenwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Wishram
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Blockhouse
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blockhouse have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockhouse
      • Blockhouse is located in Klickitat County (WA)
  • Skamania County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hood River, with the one closest to Hood River listed first.
    • Underwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
      • Hood is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • Carson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Stevenson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Stabler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stabler
      • Stabler is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • Moffetts Hot Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffetts Hot Springs
      • Moffetts Hot Springs is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • North Bonneville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Skamania
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skamania
      • Skamania is located in Skamania County (WA)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hood River ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hood River.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hood River. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hood River and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hood River.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4> of Hood River.

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 Hood River:

Cemeteries Near Hood River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hood River.

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 Hood River covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mountain View Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Idlewilde Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Frankton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frankton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Frankton Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Hood River.
    • The Frankton Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Backus Cemetery
    • Irving Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frankton Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2276895 <5>
  • Pine Grove Butte Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pine Grove Butte Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Pine Grove
    • The Pine Grove Butte Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Butte Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39270 <5>
  • Jackson Family Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38979 <5>
  • Shelley Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shelley Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Shelley Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Shelley Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shelley Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39416 <5>
  • Mosier Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mosier Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mosier Pioneer Cemetery
  • Mosier Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mosier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mosier Cemetery
  • McClure Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McClure Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McClure Cemetery
  • Lyle Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lyle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lyle Cemetery
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Mt. Hood Community Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hood Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hood Community Cemetery
    • Upper Valley Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Gilmer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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.<6>

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

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

  • White Salmon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Mosier
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Lyle
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Gilmer
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilmer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
    • Gilmer is located in Klickitat County (WA)
  • Rowena
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • The Dalles
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Trout Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Bonneville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonneville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
    • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County
  • Glenwood
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Dodson
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
    • Dodson is located in Multnomah County
  • Dufur
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Boyd ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
    • Boyd is located in Wasco County
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Oneonta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oneonta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneonta
      • Oneonta is located in Multnomah County
    • Multnomah Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Multnomah Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Multnomah Falls
      • Multnomah Falls is located in Multnomah County
    • Kingsley ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
      • Kingsley is located in Wasco County

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

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

The official website for Hood River County: www.co.hood-river.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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hood River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hood River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.7088, Longitude: -121.5252    
<5>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.
<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 Hood River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024