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The Commemorative Quarter for Oregon





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 Independence (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 Independence. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Independence is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Tillamook & Yamhill.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Independence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Independence.

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

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

  • Fircrest Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Halls Ferry Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Halls Ferry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Halls Ferry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cemetery Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cemetery Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cemetery Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Butler Davidson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butler Davidson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butler Davidson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buena Vista Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buena Vista Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buena Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cox Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jory Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jory Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jory Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosedale Friends Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosedale Friends Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosedale Friends Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belcrest Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Embree Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Embree Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Embree Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rest Lawn Memory Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (197 more) ...
    • Fast Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fast Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fast Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Etna Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Etna Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Etna Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Barbara Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Independence had a population of 1,000 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Independence had a population of 10,871 people.

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

  • Monmouth
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cochrane ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cochrane have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrane
    • Cochrane is located in Polk County
  • Derry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
    • Derry is located in Polk County
  • Buena Vista
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Rickreall
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Dencer ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dencer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dencer
    • Dencer is located in Marion County
  • Eola
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
    • Eola is located in Polk County
  • Simpson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Simpson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
    • Simpson is located in Polk County
  • Suver
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suver have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suver
    • Suver is located in Polk County
  • Dallas
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lewisville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Crowley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crowley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley
    • Crowley is located in Polk County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Crowley
    • From Independence to Crowley
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Independence ...

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 Independence.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Independence. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Independence and those printed in the larger area surrounding Independence.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6> of Independence.

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 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 Independence:

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

The official website for Polk County: www.co.polk.or.us/

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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>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 Independence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Independence) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Independence. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8512, Longitude: -123.1890    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025