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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 Harpole (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 Harpole. 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 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.

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

  • Whitman County     (The home county of Harpole)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harpole, with the one closest to Harpole listed first.
    • Colfax
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Glenwood is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Steptoe
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Elberton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Elberton is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elberton
    • Shawnee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Shawnee is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
    • Albion
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Endicott
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Saint John
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Eden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Eden is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Garfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Juno
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Juno is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
    • Almota
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harpole, with the one closest to Harpole listed first.
    • Mayview
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
    • Gould City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
  • Spokane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harpole, with the one closest to Harpole listed first.
    • Spring Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Spring Valley is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Latah
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Waverly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Waverly is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
  • Benewah County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harpole, with the one closest to Harpole listed first.
    • De Smet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • De Smet is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet
    • Willard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Willard is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
    • Tensed
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tensed is located in Benewah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tensed
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tensed <1>
  • Latah County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harpole, with the one closest to Harpole listed first.
    • Viola
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Cora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Cora is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
    • Freeze
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Freeze is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeze
    • Potlatch Junction
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Potlatch Junction is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potlatch Junction
    • Moscow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Moscow is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moscow <1>
    • Onaway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Onaway is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Potlatch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Princeton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Harpole ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harpole.

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

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

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

  • Stipe Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Colfax Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Colfax Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Colfax.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76743 <2>
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Davis Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Guy Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Eden Valley Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Moys Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Pitts Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Garfield Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Spalding Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Oakesdale Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)

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>

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

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

  • Diamond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Diamond is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
  • Mockonema
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Mockonema is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mockonema
  • Colfax
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Glenwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Glenwood is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Steptoe
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Shawnee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shawnee is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
  • Elberton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Elberton is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elberton
  • Endicott
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Sunset
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Sunset is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Saint John
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Thornton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Thornton is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
  • Garfield
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Eden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Eden is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Juno
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Juno is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
    • Almota
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota

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

Newspapers Published in Harpole ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harpole.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harpole, 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 Harpole.

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 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 Harpole:

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 Harpole, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Harpole) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.