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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 Tollgate (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 Tollgate. 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.

Tollgate 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 Tollgate. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Tollgate:

  • Umatilla County     (The home county of Tollgate)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tollgate, with the one closest to Tollgate listed first.
    • Bingham Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gibbon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gibbon
      • From Tollgate to Gibbon
    • Blue Mountain
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Weston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Milton - Freewater
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milton - Freewater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton - Freewater
      • Milton - Freewater is located in Umatilla County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,052 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton - Freewater <3>
    • Athena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Calhounville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Adams
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Umapine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Meacham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cayuse
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Havana
      (27 miles [43.5 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Havana
      • From Tollgate to Havana
    • Helix
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Helix have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tollgate, with the one closest to Tollgate listed first.
    • Elgin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Summerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Imbler
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Conley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Conley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conley
      • Conley is located in Union County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Conley
      • From Tollgate to Conley
    • Hilgard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hilgard
      • From Tollgate to Hilgard
    • Island City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Orodell ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Orodell
      • From Tollgate to Orodell
  • Wallowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tollgate, with the one closest to Tollgate listed first.
    • Maxville ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Promise ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Wallowa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wallowa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallowa
      • Wallowa is located in Wallowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 831 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wallowa <3>
  • Walla Walla County (WA)

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

Cemeteries Near Tollgate ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tollgate.

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

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

  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowlus Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowlus Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowlus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Galloway Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Weston Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Red Elk Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old City Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Key Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elgin Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elgin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elgin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ford Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Athena Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Homeli Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Summerville - Imbler Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)

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.<7>

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

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

  • Gibbon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Gibbon
    • From Tollgate to Gibbon
  • Elgin
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Blue Mountain
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Downing
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downing
    • Downing is located in Umatilla County
  • Weston
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Spofford
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spofford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
    • Spofford is located in Umatilla County
  • Athena
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • North Fork
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fork
    • North Fork is located in Umatilla County
  • Summerville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Imbler
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Adams
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Huron
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
    • Huron is located in Umatilla County
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Tollgate ...

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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tollgate.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tollgate, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tollgate.

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 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 Tollgate:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Tollgate. 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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Imbler and Summerville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Tollgate) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Tollgate. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.7807, Longitude: -118.0907    
<7>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 Tollgate, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025