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 Rocky Ford (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 Rocky Ford. 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 Rocky Ford ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Rocky Ford: Rocky Frd.

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 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.

Rocky Ford is located in Malheur 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 Malheur County: Canyon (ID), Owyhee (ID), Payette (ID), Washington (ID), Humboldt (NV), Baker, Grant & Harney.

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

• Malheur County     (The home county of Rocky Ford)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
  • Adrian
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adrian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian
    • Adrian is located in Malheur County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adrian <2>
  • Owyhee
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owyhee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
    • Owyhee is located in Malheur County
• Canyon County (ID)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
  • Riverside
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Riverside is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Wilder
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilder
    • Wilder is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,812 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilder <2>
  • Huston
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huston
    • Huston is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huston <2>
  • Greenleaf
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenleaf
    • Greenleaf is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 877 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenleaf <2>
  • Roswell
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roswell
    • Roswell is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Weitz
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weitz
    • Weitz is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Parma
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
    • Parma is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,129 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parma <2>
  • Notus
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Notus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notus
    • Notus is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Notus <2>
  • Walters Ferry
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Ferry
    • Walters Ferry is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Caldwell
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
    • Caldwell is located in Canyon County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 60,674 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caldwell <2>
  • Bowmont
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmont
    • Bowmont is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Apple Valley
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
    • Apple Valley is located in Canyon County (ID)
• Owyhee County (ID)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
  • Homedale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homedale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homedale
    • Homedale is located in Owyhee County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,830 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homedale <2>
  • Marsing
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsing
    • Marsing is located in Owyhee County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,355 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marsing <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Rocky Ford ...

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 Rocky Ford.

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

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 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 Rocky Ford:

• Websites specific to Oregon
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Oregon State Archives

• Pages specific to Malheur County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Canyon County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Owyhee County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Oregon
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Oregon
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Oregon
  • Cemeteries of Malheur County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Oregon
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Oregon
  • Cemeteries of Malheur County

Cemeteries Near Rocky Ford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rocky Ford.

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

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

• Rockville Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rockville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rockville Cemetery
• Marsing - Homedale Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marsing - Homedale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marsing - Homedale Cemetery
• Watson Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watson Cemetery
• Fargo Cemetery
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fargo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fargo Cemetery
• Peaceful Valley Cemetery
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Peaceful Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the west of Marsing (ID).
  • The Peaceful Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Knowlton Heights Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peaceful Valley Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2153586 <4>
• Wilder Cemetery
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Wilder Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Wilder (ID).
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilder Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80679 <4>
• Camp Lyon Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Lyon Cemetery
• Greenleaf Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenleaf Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Greenleaf (ID).
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenleaf Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1405947 <4>
• Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
• Roswell Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roswell Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80631 <4>
• Wilson Cemetery
  (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilson Cemetery
• Reynolds Creek Cemetery
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Reynolds Creek Cemetery is located 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> to the north of Nampa (ID).
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reynolds Creek Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #205838 <4>
• Continue List   (8 more) ...
  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80502 <4>
  • Owyhee Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owyhee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owyhee Cemetery
  • Lower Boise Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Boise Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80546 <4>

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.<5>

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

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

• Rockville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
  • Rockville is located in Owyhee County (ID)
• Sheaville
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheaville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheaville
  • Sheaville is located in Malheur County
• Reynolds
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
  • Reynolds is located in Owyhee County (ID)
• Owyhee
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owyhee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owyhee
  • Owyhee is located in Malheur County
• Notus
  (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Notus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notus
  • Notus is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Notus <2>
• Parma
  (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
  • Parma is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,129 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parma <2>
• Caldwell
  (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
  • Caldwell is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 60,674 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caldwell <2>
• Nampa
  (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nampa
  • Nampa is located in Canyon County (ID)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 103,215 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nampa <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for Malheur County: www.malheurco.org/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/