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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 Gordon (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 Gordon. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Gordon is located in Whitman 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 Whitman County: Benewah (ID), Latah (ID), Nez Perce (ID), Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln & Spokane.

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

  • Whitman County     (The home county of Gordon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Hooper
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • LaCrosse
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Endicott
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Almota
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
    • Lamont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Saint John
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Adams County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Washtucna
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Paha ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Paha is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paha
    • Ritzville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Grange City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Grange City is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
    • Delaney
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
    • Starbuck
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Relief
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
    • Dayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Kahlotus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Windust
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Windust is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windust
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Gould City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
    • Mayview
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
    • Pomeroy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Pataha
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pataha is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pataha
  • Walla Walla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon, with the one closest to Gordon listed first.
    • Magallon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Magallon is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magallon
    • Tompkins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Tompkins is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins

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

Cemeteries Near Gordon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gordon.

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

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

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

  • Washtucna Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Old Bones Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Winona Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bemis Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Owsley Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Delight Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Cemetery
    • The Lakeview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Kahlotus Cemetery
  • Spalding Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Covello Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Pomeroy City Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Moys Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Caylor Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Pampa
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Pampa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pampa
  • Hooper
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Hay is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay
  • Sutton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sutton is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
  • Washtucna
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Fletcher
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Fletcher is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
  • Grange City ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Grange City is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
  • Penawawa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Penawawa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penawawa
  • Winona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Winona is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
  • Starbuck
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Delaney
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Delaney is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
  • Chard
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chard is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chard
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Bemis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bemis is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bemis
    • Ping
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Ping is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ping
    • Endicott
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Gordon ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gordon.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gordon, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gordon.

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 Gordon:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Gordon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Gordon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.