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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 Ridpath (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 Ridpath. 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 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.

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

  • Whitman County     (The home county of Ridpath)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridpath, with the one closest to Ridpath listed first.
    • LaCrosse
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Hooper
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Almota
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Almota is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
    • Endicott
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Adams County
    • Washtucna
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridpath, with the one closest to Ridpath listed first.
    • Delaney
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Delaney is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
    • Starbuck
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Relief
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Relief is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
    • Grange City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Grange City is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
    • Dayton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Huntsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Huntsville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
    • Menoken
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Menoken is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menoken
  • Garfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridpath, with the one closest to Ridpath listed first.
    • Gould City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
    • Pomeroy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pataha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Pataha is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pataha
    • Mayview
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Mayview is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
    • Peola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Peola is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola
  • Walla Walla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridpath, with the one closest to Ridpath listed first.
    • Tompkins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Tompkins is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tompkins
    • Waitsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Coppei
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Coppei is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coppei
    • Magallon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Magallon is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magallon
    • Clyde
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Clyde is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Prescott
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Prescott is located in Walla Walla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people

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

Cemeteries Near Ridpath ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridpath.

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

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

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

  • Owsley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Covello Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pomeroy City Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Bones Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Pataha Flat Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Memorial Park
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Mayview Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 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
  • Spalding Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Onecho Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Washtucna Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kirby Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Moys Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 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.<4>

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

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

  • Chard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chard is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chard
  • Delaney
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Delaney is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaney
  • Hay
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hay is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay
  • Starbuck
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Relief
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Relief is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relief
  • Marengo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Marengo is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
  • Ping
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ping is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ping
  • Penawawa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Penawawa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penawawa
  • Grange City ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Grange City is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange City
  • Pampa
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Pampa is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pampa
  • Zumwalt
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Zumwalt is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zumwalt
  • Covello
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Covello is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covello
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Gould City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Gould City is located in Garfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
    • Pomeroy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hooper
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Ridpath ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridpath.

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

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 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 Ridpath:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ridpath) 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 Ridpath, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.