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The Commemorative Quarter for Oregon





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 Spray (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 Spray. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Spray is located in Wheeler 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 Wheeler County: Crook, Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson & Sherman.

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

  • Wheeler County     (The home county of Spray)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spray, with the one closest to Spray listed first.
    • Winlock
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winlock
      • Winlock is located in Wheeler County
    • Richmond ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
      • Richmond is located in Wheeler County
    • Waldron ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
      • Waldron is located in Wheeler County
    • Kinzua ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinzua
      • Kinzua is located in Wheeler County
    • Fossil
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Mitchell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Gilliam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spray, with the one closest to Spray listed first.
    • Lonerock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonerock
      • Lonerock is located in Gilliam County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Mayville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
      • Mayville is located in Gilliam County
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spray, with the one closest to Spray listed first.
    • Kimberly
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Monument
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hamilton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton
      • Hamilton is located in Grant County
    • Dayville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dayville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayville
      • Dayville is located in Grant County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dayville <2>
  • Morrow County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spray, with the one closest to Spray listed first.
    • Hardman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
      • Hardman is located in Morrow County
      • Hardman has also been known as:
      • Dairyville
      • Dogtown
      • Raw Dog
      • Yaller Dog
    • Heck and Gone ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Heck and Gone. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heck and Gone
      • Heck and Gone is located in Morrow County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Spray ...

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 5 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spray.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Spray. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Spray and those printed in the larger area surrounding Spray.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Spray.

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 Spray:

Cemeteries Near Spray ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spray.

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

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

  • Spray Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spray Cemetery
  • Haystack Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haystack Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haystack Cemetery
  • Winlock Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Richmond Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richmond Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richmond Cemetery
  • Cupper Canyon Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Lonerock Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lonerock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lonerock Cemetery
  • Foppiano Family Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Monument Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monument Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monument Cemetery
  • Lost Valley Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lost Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lost Valley Cemetery
  • Toney Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Toney Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<4> to the southwest of Mitchell.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Toney Cemetery
  • Caleb Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Caleb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Caleb Cemetery
  • Hardman Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hardman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hardman Cemetery
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Masonic Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
    • Fossil IOOF Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fossil IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fossil IOOF Cemetery
    • Camp Watson Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Watson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Watson Cemetery

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

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

  • Lonerock
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonerock
    • Lonerock is located in Gilliam County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
  • Monument
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Hardman
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardman
    • Hardman is located in Morrow County
    • Hardman has also been known as:
    • Dairyville
    • Dogtown
    • Raw Dog
    • Yaller Dog
  • Fossil
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Hamilton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton
    • Hamilton is located in Grant County
  • Mayville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayville
    • Mayville is located in Gilliam County
  • Eightmile
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eightmile have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eightmile
    • Eightmile is located in Morrow County

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

The official website for Spray: sprayoregon.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>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- Spray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.8347, Longitude: -119.7939    
<5>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 Spray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024