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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 Kirby (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 Kirby. 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.

Kirby is located in Garfield 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 Garfield County: Wallowa (OR), Asotin, Columbia & Whitman.

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

  • Garfield County     (The home county of Kirby)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Pataha
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Pataha is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pataha
    • Mayview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
    • Gould City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
    • Pomeroy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Peola
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Peola is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola
  • Asotin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Silcott
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Silcott is located in Asotin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silcott
    • Clarkston Heights - Vineland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Clarkston - Highland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarkston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Cloverland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Cloverland is located in Asotin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverland
    • Asotin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Anatone
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Delaney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
    • Dayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Whitman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Colton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Almota
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
    • Chambers
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Chambers is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers
    • Uniontown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Staley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Staley is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staley
    • Leon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Leon is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
    • Pullman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Albion
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Shawnee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Shawnee is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
    • Colfax
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Glenwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Glenwood is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Latah County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Genesee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Moscow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Lenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Lenville is located in Latah County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenville
    • Viola
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Nez Perce County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirby, with the one closest to Kirby listed first.
    • Leon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Leon is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
    • Lewiston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Lewiston is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewiston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,039 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewiston <1>
    • North Lapwai
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Spalding
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Lapwai
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Lapwai is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapwai
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,152 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lapwai <1>
    • Sweetwater
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Sweetwater is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater

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

Cemeteries Near Kirby ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kirby.

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

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

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

  • Kirby Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Mayview Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview Cemetery
    • The Mayview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Chapel Hill Cemetery
    • Mayview / Chapel Hill Cemetery
  • Pataha Flat Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Pomeroy City Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Spalding Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Peola Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Moys Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Vineland Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Vineland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Clarkston.
    • The Vineland Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Clarkston Vineland Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77100 <2>
  • Owsley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Pullman City Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Farr Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Davis Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 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.<3>

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

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

  • Mayview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Mayview is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
  • Wawawai ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Wawawai is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wawawai
  • Pomeroy
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Gould City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Gould City is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
  • Silcott
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Silcott is located in Asotin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silcott
  • Almota
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Almota is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
  • Colton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Zumwalt
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Zumwalt is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zumwalt
  • Peola
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Peola is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola
  • Uniontown
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Johnson
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Johnson is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
  • Staley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Staley is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staley
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Leon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Leon is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
    • Ping
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Ping is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ping
    • Marengo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Marengo is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo

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

Newspapers Published in Kirby ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kirby.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kirby, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kirby.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Kirby:

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 Kirby, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kirby) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.