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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 Rock Creek (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 Rock Creek. 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 Rock Creek ...

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 occur.

Another variation: Rockcreek.

  • A typical abbreviation for Rock Creek: Rock Crk. (or less commonly used: Rock Ck. or Rock Cr.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rock Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rock Creek.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Rock Creek is located in Gilliam 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 Gilliam County: Morrow, Sherman, Wasco, Wheeler & Klickitat (WA).

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

  • Gilliam County     (The home county of Rock Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Creek, with the one closest to Rock Creek listed first.
    • Olex
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Olex is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olex
    • Arlington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clem
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Clem is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clem
    • Ajax ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ajax is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ajax
    • Condon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Morrow County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Creek, with the one closest to Rock Creek listed first.
    • Ione
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Gooseberry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Gooseberry is located in Morrow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gooseberry
    • Lexington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Sherman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Creek, with the one closest to Rock Creek listed first.
    • Emigrant Springs ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Emigrant Springs is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emigrant Springs
    • Klondike
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Klondike is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klondike
    • Sinks ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Sinks is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinks
    • Monkland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Monkland is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkland
    • De Moss Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • De Moss Springs is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Moss Springs
    • Wasco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Gordon ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Gordon is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Moro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Moro is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moro <1>
    • Rufus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Biggs Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Grass Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosebush ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rosebush is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebush
  • Klickitat County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Creek, with the one closest to Rock Creek listed first.
    • Roosevelt
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Dot
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Dot is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dot
    • Maryhill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Cleveland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Cleveland is located in Klickitat County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Bickleton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Goldendale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Rock Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rock Creek.

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 Rock Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Cyrus Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Potters Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Olex Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Clem Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Eightmile Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Arlington Masonic Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Emigrant Springs Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Tommy Dean Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tommy Dean Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tommy Dean Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the southeast of Arlington.
  • Flett Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • De Moss Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Moss Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the De Moss Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> to the northeast of Moro.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38702 <3>
  • Rose Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rose Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the southeast of Moro.
    • The Rose Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rose Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39358 <3>
  • Igo Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Morgan Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Brown Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Huit - Juniper Canyon Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Olex
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Olex is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olex
  • Arlington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Clem
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clem is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clem
  • Emigrant Springs ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Emigrant Springs is located in Sherman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emigrant Springs
  • Ajax ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ajax is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ajax
  • Cecil
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Cecil is located in Morrow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Monkland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Monkland is located in Sherman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkland
  • Willows
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Willows is located in Gilliam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willows
  • De Moss Springs
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • De Moss Springs is located in Sherman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Moss Springs
  • Wasco
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Dot
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Dot is located in Klickitat County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dot
  • Moro
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Moro is located in Sherman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moro
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moro <1>
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Igo ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Igo is located in Gilliam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Igo
    • Rufus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Rutledge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Rutledge is located in Sherman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge

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

Newspapers Published in Rock Creek ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rock Creek, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rock Creek.

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 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 Rock Creek:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rock Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Rock Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.