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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 LaCrosse (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 LaCrosse. 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.

Name Variations for LaCrosse ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Other variations include: La Cross, La Crosse and LaCross.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

LaCrosse is located in Whitman County.

To see how the shape of Washington's counties 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 LaCrosse. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to LaCrosse:

  • Whitman County     (The home county of LaCrosse)
  • Adams County
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from LaCrosse, with the one closest to LaCrosse listed first.
    • Delaney
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Delaney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Delaney
      • From LaCrosse to Delaney
    • Grange City ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grange City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
      • Grange City is located in Columbia County
    • Starbuck
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Relief
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Relief. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Relief
      • From LaCrosse to Relief
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from LaCrosse, with the one closest to LaCrosse listed first.
    • Gould City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gould City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
    • Mayview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mayview. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mayview
      • From LaCrosse to Mayview
    • Pomeroy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pataha
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near LaCrosse ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of LaCrosse.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Winona Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winona Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winona Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onecho Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Onecho Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Washtucna Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Old Bones Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Bones Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Bones Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spalding Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spalding Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spalding Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stipe Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bemis Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bemis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bemis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moys Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Caylor Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Caylor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Caylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Owsley Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owsley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owsley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mayview Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Grisham Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grisham Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grisham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Davis Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davis Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Colfax Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Pampa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pampa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pampa
    • Pampa is located in Whitman County
  • Sutton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sutton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
    • Sutton is located in Whitman County
  • Hay
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay
    • Hay is located in Whitman County
  • Winona
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
    • Winona is located in Whitman County
  • Penawawa
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penawawa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penawawa
    • Penawawa is located in Whitman County
  • Endicott
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hooper
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Ping
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ping have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ping
    • Ping is located in Garfield County
  • Chard
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chard
    • Chard is located in Garfield County
  • Diamond
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond
    • Diamond is located in Whitman County
  • Washtucna
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Almota
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Almota. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
    • Almota is located in Whitman County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Almota
    • From LaCrosse to Almota
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Delaney
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Delaney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Delaney
      • From LaCrosse to Delaney
    • Gould City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gould City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
    • Mockonema
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mockonema have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mockonema
      • Mockonema is located in Whitman County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of LaCrosse ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around LaCrosse.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of LaCrosse. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of LaCrosse and those printed in the larger area surrounding LaCrosse.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4> of LaCrosse.

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 LaCrosse:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for LaCrosse. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Whitman County: www.whitmancounty.org/

The official website for State of Washington: https://wa.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- LaCrosse) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in LaCrosse. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.8138, Longitude: -117.8801    
<5>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.
<6>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 LaCrosse, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025