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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 Irrigon (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 Irrigon. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Irrigon is located in Morrow 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 Morrow County: Gilliam, Grant, Umatilla, Wheeler, Benton (WA) & Klickitat (WA).

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

  • Morrow County     (The home county of Irrigon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Irrigon, with the one closest to Irrigon listed first.
    • Boardman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boardman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boardman
      • Boardman is located in Morrow County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,794 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boardman <2>
    • Alpine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alpine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Morrow County
    • Pine City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
      • Pine City is located in Morrow County
  • Umatilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Irrigon, with the one closest to Irrigon listed first.
    • Umatilla
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Ordnance ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordnance
      • Ordnance is located in Umatilla County
    • Power City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Power City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Power City
      • Power City is located in Umatilla County
    • Hermiston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Hinkle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hinkle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle
      • Hinkle is located in Umatilla County
    • Cold Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
      • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Stanfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanfield
      • Stanfield is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,107 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanfield <2>
    • Echo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Echo is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <2>
  • Benton County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Irrigon, with the one closest to Irrigon listed first.
    • Paterson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Plymouth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
      • Plymouth is located in Benton County (WA)
    • Highland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
      • Highland is located in Benton County (WA)
    • Benton City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Prosser
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosser
      • Prosser is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prosser <2>
    • Kennewick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Richland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Richland is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,439 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <2>
    • Finley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Finley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley
      • Finley is located in Benton County (WA)
    • West Richland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Franklin County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Irrigon, with the one closest to Irrigon listed first.
    • West Pasco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Pasco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pasco
      • West Pasco is located in Franklin County (WA)
    • Ainsworth Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ainsworth Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ainsworth Junction
      • Ainsworth Junction is located in Franklin County (WA)
    • Pasco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasco
      • Pasco is located in Franklin County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,095 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pasco <2>
  • Walla Walla County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Irrigon, with the one closest to Irrigon listed first.
    • Wallula Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction
      • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • Burbank
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wallula
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallula have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula
      • Wallula is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
  • Yakima County (WA)
    • Byron
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
      • Byron is located in Yakima County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Irrigon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Irrigon.

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

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

  • Desert Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Irrigon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irrigon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irrigon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2252861 <4>
  • Sunset Hills Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Hills Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Hills Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Umatilla Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Umatilla Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Umatilla Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Hermiston Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hermiston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hermiston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Baumgardner Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baumgardner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baumgardner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Foster Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foster Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Echo Memorial Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Echo Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Echo Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Siphon Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Siphon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Siphon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Koontz Gravesite
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Koontz Gravesite
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Koontz Gravesite is located outside and to the southeast of Echo.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2439415 <4>
    • Wells Spring Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wells Spring Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wells Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sand Hollow Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Hollow Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Hollow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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

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

  • Umatilla
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Cold Springs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
    • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
  • Echo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Echo is located in Umatilla County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <2>
  • Alpine
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alpine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Alpine is located in Morrow County
  • Ella
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ella have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
    • Ella is located in Morrow County
  • Galloway ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galloway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
    • Galloway is located in Morrow County
  • Nolin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nolin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolin
    • Nolin is located in Umatilla County
  • Juniper
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Juniper have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper
    • Juniper is located in Umatilla County
  • Yoakum
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yoakum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yoakum
    • Yoakum is located in Umatilla County
  • Byron
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
    • Byron is located in Yakima County (WA)
  • Willows
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
    • Willows is located in Gilliam County
  • Cecil
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cecil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
    • Cecil is located in Morrow County
  • Wallula Junction
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction
    • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Irrigon ...

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 Irrigon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Irrigon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Irrigon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Irrigon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Irrigon.

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 Irrigon:

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

The official website for Morrow County: www.morrowcountyoregon.com/

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>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 Irrigon, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Irrigon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Irrigon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.8961, Longitude: -119.4885       In this case, the coordinates for Irrigon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025