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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Alpha. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Alpha to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Alpha, please Contact Us.

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 Alpha (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 Alpha. 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 doctors 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Alpha is historic, it would have been located within present day Spokane County.

To see how the shape of Washington's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Spokane County: Benewah (ID), Bonner (ID), Kootenai (ID), Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens & Whitman.

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

  • Spokane County     (The home county of Alpha)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alpha, with the one closest to Alpha listed first.
    • Greenacres
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Veradale
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Trentwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Trentwood is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trentwood
    • Liberty Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Otis Orchards
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Irwin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Irwin is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Opportunity
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Opportunity is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opportunity
    • Spokane Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Otis Orchards - East Farms
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Chester
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chester is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Dishman
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Dishman is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dishman
    • Millwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Millwood is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
    • Newman Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pend Oreille County
    • Camden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Camden is located in Pend Oreille County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
  • Stevens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alpha, with the one closest to Alpha listed first.
    • Clavton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Clayton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Tumtum
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tumtum is located in Stevens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumtum
  • Whitman County
    • Willard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Willard is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
  • Benewah County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alpha, with the one closest to Alpha listed first.
    • Plummer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Plummer is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummer
    • Chatcolet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Chatcolet is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatcolet
    • Willard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Willard is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
  • Bonner County (ID)
  • Kootenai County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alpha, with the one closest to Alpha listed first.
    • State Line Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • State Line Village is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line Village
    • State Line
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • State Line is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Hauser
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hauser is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <2>
    • Post Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Coeur d'Alene Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Coeur d'Alene Junction is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coeur d'Alene Junction
    • Huetter
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Huetter is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huetter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 114 people
    • Rathdrum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Rathdrum is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathdrum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rathdrum <2>
    • Bellgrove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bellgrove is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellgrove
    • Coeur d'Alene
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Dalton Gardens
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hayden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hayden is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayden <2>
    • Sturgeon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Sturgeon is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
    • Echo Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Echo Beach is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Beach

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

Cemeteries Near Alpha ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alpha.

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 Alpha - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Saltese Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • The Pines Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Prairie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Englewood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Orchard Prairie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Mica Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Peone Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. St. Michael Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Moran Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mica Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (53 more) ...
    • Spokane Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Post Falls (ID).
      • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Post Falls Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80458 <3>
    • Wood Memorial Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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.

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

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

  • Chester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chester is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
  • East Spokane
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • East Spokane is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Spokane
  • Mica
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Mica is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mica
  • Peone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Peone is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone
  • Hauser
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hauser is located in Kootenai County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <2>
  • Freeman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Freeman is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Post Falls
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Mead
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Spokane
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Rockford
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Rathdrum
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rathdrum is located in Kootenai County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathdrum
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,419 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rathdrum <2>
  • Buckeye
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckeye is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Marshall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Marshall is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Coeur d'Alene
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Chattaroy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Alpha ...

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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alpha.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alpha, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alpha.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Alpha:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Alpha, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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>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- Alpha) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.