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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Hay (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 Hay. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

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

  • Whitman County     (The home county of Hay)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hay, with the one closest to Hay listed first.
    • LaCrosse
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Hooper
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Endicott
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Almota
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
    • Colfax
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Adams County
    • Washtucna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hay, with the one closest to Hay listed first.
    • Delaney
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
    • Starbuck
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Grange City ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Grange City is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
    • Relief
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
    • Dayton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Huntsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Huntsville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
    • Menoken
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Menoken is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
  • Franklin County
    • Kahlotus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hay, with the one closest to Hay listed first.
    • Gould City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
    • Pomeroy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Mayview
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
    • Pataha
      (22 miles [35.4 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 Hay, with the one closest to Hay listed first.
    • Tompkins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Tompkins is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
    • Magallon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Magallon is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magallon
    • Waitsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Hay ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hay.

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

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

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

  • Old Bones Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Owsley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Pomeroy City Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Winona Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Washtucna Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Covello Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Spalding Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Mayview Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview Cemetery
    • The Mayview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Chapel Hill Cemetery
    • Mayview / Chapel Hill Cemetery
  • Moys Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Bemis Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pataha Flat Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Hay had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Pampa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pampa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pampa
  • Chard
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Chard is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chard
  • Penawawa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Penawawa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penawawa
  • Delaney
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Delaney is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
  • Ping
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Ping is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ping
  • Hooper
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Starbuck
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Grange City ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Grange City is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
  • Sutton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Sutton is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
  • Relief
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Relief is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
  • Gould City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Gould City is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
  • Marengo
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Marengo is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Zumwalt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Zumwalt is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zumwalt
    • Winona
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Winona is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
    • Washtucna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Hay ...

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 Hay.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hay, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hay.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Hay:

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