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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 Oak Grove (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 Oak Grove. 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 Oak Grove ...

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.

Another variation: Oakgrove.

  • A typical abbreviation for Oak Grove: Oak Grv.

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.

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 and hospitals 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.

Oak Grove is located in Hood River 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 Hood River County: Clackamas, Multnomah, Wasco, Clark (WA), Klickitat (WA) & Skamania (WA).

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

  • Hood River County     (The home county of Oak Grove)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Pine Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
      • Pine Grove is located in Hood River County
    • Lenz
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenz
      • Lenz is located in Hood River County
      • Lenz has also been known as:
      • Sherman Spur
    • Odell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Odell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell
      • Odell is located in Hood River County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Odell <2>
    • Hood River
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Hood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hood
      • Mount Hood is located in Hood River County
    • Parkdale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkdale
      • Parkdale is located in Hood River County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parkdale <2>
    • Cascade Locks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cascade Locks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade Locks
      • Cascade Locks is located in Hood River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,155 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cascade Locks <2>
  • Clackamas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Government Camp
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Rhododendron
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Zigzag
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Brightwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Hood Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hood Village
      • Mount Hood Village is located in Clackamas County
    • Welches
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Multnomah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Bonneville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bonneville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
      • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County
    • Warrendale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrendale
      • Warrendale is located in Multnomah County
    • Dodson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
      • Dodson is located in Multnomah County
    • Bridal Veil
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Wasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Mosier
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Ortley ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
      • Ortley is located in Wasco County
    • Rowena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Chenoweth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chenoweth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenoweth
      • Chenoweth is located in Wasco County
    • City of The Dalles
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for City of The Dalles came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City of The Dalles
      • City of The Dalles is located in Wasco County
    • The Dalles
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Dufur
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Friend ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friend
      • Friend is located in Wasco County
    • Boyd ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Wasco County
    • Fairbanks
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks
      • Fairbanks is located in Wasco County
    • Rice ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Rice is located in Wasco County
    • Kingsley ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
      • Kingsley is located in Wasco County
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Bingen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingen
      • Bingen is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 748 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bingen <2>
    • White Salmon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Husum
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • B Z Corner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for B Z Corner
      • B Z Corner is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Lyle
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Appleton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Dallesport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Trout Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Klickitat
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wahkiacus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahkiacus
      • Wahkiacus is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Glenwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wishram
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Skamania County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
    • Hood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
      • Hood is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • Underwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Carson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Stevenson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Moffetts Hot Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffetts Hot Springs
      • Moffetts Hot Springs is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • Stabler
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stabler
      • Stabler is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • North Bonneville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Skamania
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skamania
      • Skamania is located in Skamania County (WA)
    • Cruzatt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cruzatt
      • Cruzatt is located in Skamania County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Grove.

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

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

  • Mountain View Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Idlewilde Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Frankton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frankton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frankton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Frankton Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Hood River.
    • The Frankton Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Backus Cemetery
    • Irving Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2276895 <5>
  • Shelley Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shelley Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shelley Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Shelley Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Shelley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39416 <5>
  • Jackson Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38979 <5>
  • Pine Grove Butte Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Butte Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pine Grove Butte Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Pine Grove
    • The Pine Grove Butte Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39270 <5>
  • St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hood Community Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hood Community Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hood Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Upper Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Mosier Pioneer Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mosier Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mosier Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mosier Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mosier Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mosier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (34 more) ...
    • McClure Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McClure Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McClure Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • McQuinn Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McQuinn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McQuinn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lyle Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lyle Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lyle 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.<6>

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

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

  • White Salmon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mosier
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Lyle
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Rowena
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Gilmer
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilmer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
    • Gilmer is located in Klickitat County (WA)
  • Bonneville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bonneville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
    • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County
  • The Dalles
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Dodson
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
    • Dodson is located in Multnomah County
  • Trout Lake
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Oneonta
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oneonta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneonta
    • Oneonta is located in Multnomah County
  • Multnomah Falls
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Multnomah Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Multnomah Falls
    • Multnomah Falls is located in Multnomah County
  • Dufur
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Boyd ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Wasco County
    • Glenwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bridal Veil
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Grove ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Grove, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Grove.

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 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 Oak Grove:

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

The official website for Hood River County: www.co.hood-river.or.us/

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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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.
<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 Oak Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Oak Grove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.6626, Longitude: -121.5887       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Grove have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025