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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 Messner (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 Messner. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

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

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

  • Morrow County     (The home county of Messner)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messner, with the one closest to Messner listed first.
    • Boardman
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Irrigon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Alpine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Alpine is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Pine City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine City is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
    • Ione
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Lexington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Gilliam County
    • Arlington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Umatilla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messner, with the one closest to Messner listed first.
    • Ordnance ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Ordnance is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ordnance
    • Hinkle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hinkle is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle
    • Umatilla
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hermiston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Power City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Power City is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Power City
    • Stanfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Cold Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
    • Echo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • 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>
  • Benton County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messner, with the one closest to Messner listed first.
    • Paterson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Plymouth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Plymouth is located in Benton County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
    • Prosser
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Benton City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messner, with the one closest to Messner listed first.
    • Roosevelt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Bluelight
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Bluelight is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluelight
  • Yakima County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Messner, with the one closest to Messner listed first.
    • Byron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Byron is located in Yakima County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
    • Grandview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Mabton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mabton is located in Yakima County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,267 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mabton <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Messner ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Messner.

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

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

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

  • Riverview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Irrigon Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Desert Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Wells Spring Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Sunset Hills Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Umatilla Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Sixprong Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Hermiston Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Sand Hollow Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Baumgardner Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Morgan Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Petteys Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Foster Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant View Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Ella
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Ella is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
  • Alpine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alpine is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Umatilla
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Willows
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Willows is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
  • Cecil
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cecil is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Galloway ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Galloway is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway
  • Echo
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • 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>
  • Cold Springs
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Cold Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Ione
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Byron
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Byron is located in Yakima County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
  • Arlington
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Lexington
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Mabton
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mabton is located in Yakima County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,267 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mabton <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Messner ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Messner.

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 Messner:

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 Messner, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Messner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.