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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 Pigeon Springs (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 Pigeon Springs. 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 Pigeon Springs ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pigeon Springs: Pigeon Spgs. (or less commonly used: Pigeon Spngs. or Pigeon Sprngs.)

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.

Pigeon Springs is located in Cowlitz 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 Cowlitz County: Columbia (OR), Clark, Lewis, Skamania & Wahkiakum.

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

  • Cowlitz County     (The home county of Pigeon Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pigeon Springs, with the one closest to Pigeon Springs listed first.
    • Ariel
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Kalama
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rose Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
      • Rose Valley is located in Cowlitz County
    • Carrolls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Cougar
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Kelso
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
    • Ostrander
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostrander
      • Ostrander is located in Cowlitz County
    • Longview
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Silver Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Longview Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longview Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview Heights
      • Longview Heights is located in Cowlitz County
    • Toutle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • West Longview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Longview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Longview
      • West Longview is located in Cowlitz County
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pigeon Springs, with the one closest to Pigeon Springs listed first.
    • Woodland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Amboy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • La Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Chelatchie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelatchie
      • Chelatchie is located in Clark County
    • Pioneer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
      • Pioneer is located in Clark County
    • Yacolt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Grove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
      • Cherry Grove is located in Clark County
    • King Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Corner
      • King Corner is located in Clark County
    • Lewisville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewisville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
      • Lewisville is located in Clark County
    • Ridgefield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Heisson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dollar's Corner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dollar's Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar's Corner
      • Dollar's Corner is located in Clark County
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pigeon Springs, with the one closest to Pigeon Springs listed first.
    • Toledo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Vader
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Columbia County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pigeon Springs, with the one closest to Pigeon Springs listed first.
    • Goble
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
      • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Prescott
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prescott have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Prescott is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Reuben
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
      • Reuben is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Deer Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Columbia City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Beaver Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Springs
      • Beaver Springs is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Rainier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
      • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
    • Saint Helens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Helens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Helens
      • Saint Helens is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,071 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Helens <1>
    • Warren
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Scappoose
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Mayger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
      • Mayger is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Quincy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
      • Quincy is located in Columbia County (OR)
  • Multnomah County (OR)
    • Burlington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Multnomah County (OR)

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

Newspapers Published in Pigeon Springs ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pigeon Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pigeon Springs, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pigeon Springs.

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 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 Pigeon Springs:

Cemeteries Near Pigeon Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pigeon Springs.

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 Pigeon Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Lone Pine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Frank Abel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Kalama IOOF Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kalama IOOF Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Kalama.
    • The Kalama IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • Kalama IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kalama IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2146334 <4>
  • Martins Bluff Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the IOOF Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Woodland.
    • The IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1986229 <4>
  • Highland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
  • Rose Valley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
  • Prescott Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Prescott Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prescott Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #39313 <4>
  • Welter Family Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Welter Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Welter Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2269447 <4>
  • Continue List   (73 more) ...

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

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

  • Hayes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayes
    • Hayes is located in Clark County
  • Etna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Etna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • Etna is located in Clark County
  • Kalama
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Woodland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Carrolls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Goble
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
    • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
  • Reuben
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
    • Reuben is located in Columbia County (OR)
  • Amboy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Deer Island
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Caples
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caples have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caples
    • Caples is located in Cowlitz County
  • La Center
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Columbia City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Kelso
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
    • Rainier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
      • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
    • Saint Helens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Helens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Helens
      • Saint Helens is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,071 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Helens <1>

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

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

The official website for Cowlitz County: www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/

The official website for State of Washington: https://access.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>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.
<3>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- Pigeon Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pigeon Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.0532, Longitude: -122.6240       In this case, the coordinates for Pigeon Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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.
<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 Pigeon Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024