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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 Jimtown (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 Jimtown. 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 Jimtown ...

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.

Jimtown was originally named Langrell

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.

A Few Details for Jimtown ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Jimtown was established in 1904.

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 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.

Jimtown is located in Baker 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 Baker County: Adams (ID), Grant, Malheur, Union, Wallowa & Washington.

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

  • Baker County     (The home county of Jimtown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jimtown, with the one closest to Jimtown listed first.
    • Halfway
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cornucopia ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornucopia
      • Cornucopia is located in Baker County
    • New Bridge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bridge
      • New Bridge is located in Baker County
    • Richland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Richland is located in Baker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <1>
    • Sparta ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
      • Sparta is located in Baker County
    • Robinette ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robinette have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinette
      • Robinette is located in Baker County
    • Oxbow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Homestead ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
      • Homestead is located in Baker County
    • Keating
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keating
      • Keating is located in Baker County
    • Durkee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Weatherby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weatherby
      • Weatherby is located in Baker County
  • Wallowa County
    • Joseph
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Jimtown ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jimtown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jimtown, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jimtown.

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 websites either 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 Jimtown:

Cemeteries Near Jimtown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jimtown.

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

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

  • Pine Haven Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Sparta Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Eagle Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Copperfield - Homestead Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Copperfield - Homestead Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • The Copperfield - Homestead Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Homestead Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Copperfield - Homestead Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38680 <4>
  • Goose Creek Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • The Goose Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Keating Cemetery
    • Lower Powder Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goose Creek Cemetery
  • Love Family Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Bear Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Dunham Wright Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Dunham Wright Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunham Wright Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2557785 <4>
  • Big Creek Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Big Creek Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • The Big Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beagle Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2191042 <4>
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Durkee Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pioneer Cemetery In The Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pioneer Cemetery In The Park is located 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the northwest of Union.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery In The Park
    • Hibbard Creek Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hibbard Creek Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> to the west of Weatherby.
      • The Hibbard Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hibbard Creek Pioneer Cemetery
      • Home Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hibbard Creek Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2171605 <4>
    • Prairie Creek Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Creek Cemetery
    • Old Chief Joseph Gravesite
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Chief Joseph Gravesite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Chief Joseph Gravesite

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 Jimtown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Jimtown.

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

  • Cornucopia ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornucopia
    • Cornucopia is located in Baker County
  • Sparta ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
    • Sparta is located in Baker County
  • Conner Creek ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conner Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conner Creek
    • Conner Creek is located in Baker County
  • Mineral
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
    • Mineral is located in Washington County (ID)
  • Medical Springs
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medical Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medical Springs
    • Medical Springs is located in Union County
  • Durkee
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Valley
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Pleasant Valley is located in Baker County

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

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

The official website for Baker County: www.bakercounty.org/

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>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.
<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- Jimtown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Jimtown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.9065, Longitude: -117.1433    
<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>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.
<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 Jimtown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024