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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 McNary (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 McNary. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

McNary is located in Umatilla 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 Umatilla County: Grant, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Benton (WA), Columbia (WA) & Walla Walla (WA).

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

  • Umatilla County     (The home county of McNary)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McNary, with the one closest to McNary listed first.
    • Power City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Power City is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Power City
    • Umatilla
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hermiston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cold Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
    • Hinkle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Hinkle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle
    • Stanfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ordnance ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ordnance is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordnance
    • Echo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Echo is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>
    • Barnhart
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Barnhart is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnhart
    • Vansycle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Vansycle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vansycle
    • Pendleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Helix
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Morrow County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McNary, with the one closest to McNary listed first.
    • Irrigon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Boardman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Alpine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Alpine is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Pine City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Pine City is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
  • Benton County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McNary, with the one closest to McNary listed first.
    • Plymouth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Plymouth is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
    • Paterson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Highland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Highland is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
    • Finley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Finley is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley
    • Kennewick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Benton City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,439 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland <1>
    • West Richland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Prosser
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Prosser is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prosser <1>
  • Franklin County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McNary, with the one closest to McNary listed first.
    • Pasco
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Pasco is located in Franklin County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,095 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pasco <1>
    • West Pasco
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • West Pasco is located in Franklin County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pasco
    • Ainsworth Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Ainsworth Junction is located in Franklin County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ainsworth Junction
  • Walla Walla County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McNary, with the one closest to McNary listed first.
    • Wallula Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction
    • Wallula
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wallula is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula
    • Burbank
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Touchet
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near McNary ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McNary.

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

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

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

  • Umatilla Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Sunset Hills Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hermiston Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Desert Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Irrigon Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Baumgardner Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Foster Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Echo Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Siphon Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Koontz Gravesite
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Umatilla
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Cold Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Echo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Echo is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 705 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Echo <1>
  • Juniper
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Juniper is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper
  • Nolin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Nolin is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolin
  • Yoakum
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Yoakum is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yoakum
  • Wallula Junction
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wallula Junction is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula Junction
  • Wallula
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Wallula is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallula
  • Alpine
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Alpine is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Pasco
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Pasco is located in Franklin County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasco
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,095 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pasco <1>
  • Barnhart
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Barnhart is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnhart
  • Galloway ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Galloway is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Vansycle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Vansycle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vansycle
    • Stanton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Stanton is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
    • Pendleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in McNary ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around McNary.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McNary, 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 McNary.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 McNary:

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 McNary, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McNary) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.