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 Gilliam (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 Gilliam. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Gilliam is located in Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla County: Umatilla (OR), Benton, Columbia & Franklin.
Below are the counties that are near Gilliam. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gilliam:
- Walla Walla County (The home county of Gilliam)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gilliam, with the one closest to Gilliam listed first.
- Dixie
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Kibler
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kibler is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kibler
- Coppei
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Coppei is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppei
- Walla Walla
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Waitsburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- College Place
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Garrett
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Garrett is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
- Berryman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Berryman is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryman
- Prescott
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Mojonnier
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mojonnier is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mojonnier
- Calhounville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Calhounville is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
- Rulo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Rulo is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gilliam, with the one closest to Gilliam listed first.
- Huntsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Huntsville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Menoken
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Menoken is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
- Dayton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Relief
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Relief is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
- Starbuck
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Delaney
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Delaney is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
- Grange City ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Grange City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
- Umatilla County (OR)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gilliam, with the one closest to Gilliam listed first.
- Spofford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Spofford is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
- Calhounville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Calhounville is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhounville
- Milton - Freewater
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Umapine
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Umapine is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umapine
- Blue Mountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Mountain is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
- Tollgate
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Tollgate is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tollgate
- Weston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bingham Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bingham Springs is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham Springs
- Athena
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Vansycle
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vansycle is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vansycle
- Helix
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Adams
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gilliam, see our County-by-County Page for Gilliam.
Cemeteries Near Gilliam ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gilliam.
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 Gilliam - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gilliam covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gilliam, with the one closest to Gilliam listed first.
- Mountain View Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bundy Hollow Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- IOOF Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Blue Mtn. Memorial Garden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ft. Walla Walla Military Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Valley Chapel Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ford Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Cemetery
- The Ford Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ballou Cemetery
- Valley Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38788 <2>
- Bowlus Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ivy Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Old City Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Pioneer Memorial Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hyatt Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Weston Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Gilliam had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gilliam, with the one closest to Gilliam listed first.
- Dixie
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Coppei
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Coppei is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppei
- Walla Walla
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Valley Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Valley Grove is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Grove
- Waitsburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Hadley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hadley is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
- Huntsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Huntsville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Menoken
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Menoken is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
- Berryman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Berryman is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryman
- Spofford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Spofford is located in Umatilla County (OR)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spofford
- Prescott
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
- Rulo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Rulo is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rulo
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Dayton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Climax
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Climax is located in Walla Walla County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
- Alto
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Alto is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gilliam. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gilliam.
Newspapers Published in Gilliam ...
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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gilliam.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gilliam, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gilliam.
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 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 Gilliam:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Walla Walla County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Umatilla County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Washington
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Gilliam, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Gilliam) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |