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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 Thorn Hollow (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 Thorn Hollow. 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 Thorn Hollow ...

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 Thorn Hollow: Thorn Holw. (or less commonly used: Thorn Hlw. or Thorn Hllw.)

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 doctors 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.

Thorn Hollow is located in Umatilla 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 Umatilla County: Grant, Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Benton (WA), Columbia (WA) & Walla Walla (WA).

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

  • Umatilla County     (The home county of Thorn Hollow)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thorn Hollow, with the one closest to Thorn Hollow listed first.
    • Gibbon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
      • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
    • Cayuse
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Adams
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Athena
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athena
      • Athena is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athena <2>
    • Weston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
      • Weston is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weston <2>
    • Havana
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Havana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
      • Havana is located in Umatilla County
    • Kirkpatrick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkpatrick
      • Kirkpatrick is located in Umatilla County
    • Mission
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mission. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
      • Mission is located in Umatilla County
    • Bingham Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham Springs
      • Bingham Springs is located in Umatilla County
    • Meacham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Tutuilla
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tutuilla have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tutuilla
      • Tutuilla is located in Umatilla County
    • Blue Mountain
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Blue Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
      • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thorn Hollow, with the one closest to Thorn Hollow listed first.
    • Hilgard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hilgard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilgard
      • Hilgard is located in Union County
    • Summerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Elgin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Union County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
      • Former names for Elgin:
      • Fish Trap
      • Indian Valley
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <2>
    • Imbler
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Orodell ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orodell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orodell
      • Orodell is located in Union County
    • La Grande
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Walla Walla County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thorn Hollow, with the one closest to Thorn Hollow listed first.
    • Calhounville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calhounville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
      • Calhounville is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • Mojonnier
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mojonnier
      • Mojonnier is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • College Place
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Garrett
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
      • Garrett is located in Walla Walla County (WA)
    • Lowden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Walla Walla
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Touchet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kibler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibler
      • Kibler is located in Walla Walla County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Thorn Hollow ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thorn Hollow.

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

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

  • Red Elk Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Elk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Elk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Homeli Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Homeli Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Homeli Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Key Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Key Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Key Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Andrews Mission Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Andrews Mission Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Andrews Mission Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Athena Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Athena Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Athena Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Weston Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Agency Indian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Agency Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Agency Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hyatt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hyatt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greasewood Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greasewood Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Greasewood Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • The Greasewood Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Gallaher Cemetery
  • Finland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Agency Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Agency Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Agency Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tutuilla Presbyterian Indian Mission Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tutuilla Presbyterian Indian Mission Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tutuilla Presbyterian Indian Mission Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Meacham Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meacham Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meacham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Helix Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Helix Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Helix Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • German Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<4>

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

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

  • Gibbon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbon
    • Gibbon is located in Umatilla County
  • Cayuse
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Adams
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Weston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
    • Weston is located in Umatilla County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 650 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weston <2>
  • Havana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Havana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Havana is located in Umatilla County
  • Athena
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athena
    • Athena is located in Umatilla County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,140 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athena <2>
  • Mission
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mission. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
    • Mission is located in Umatilla County
  • Meacham
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Downing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
    • Downing is located in Umatilla County
  • North Fork
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
    • North Fork is located in Umatilla County
  • Blue Mountain
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Blue Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
    • Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County
  • Huron
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
    • Huron is located in Umatilla County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Helix
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Helix have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helix
      • Helix is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helix <2>
    • Fulton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fulton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
      • Fulton is located in Umatilla County
    • Kamela
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kamela have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamela
      • Kamela is located in Union County

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

Newspapers Published in Thorn Hollow ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thorn Hollow.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thorn Hollow, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thorn Hollow.

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 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 Thorn Hollow:

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

The official website for Umatilla County: www.co.umatilla.or.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Thorn Hollow, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thorn Hollow) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thorn Hollow. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.6837, Longitude: -118.4600       In this case, the coordinates for Thorn Hollow have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025