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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 Willard (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 Willard. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Willard is located in Skamania 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 Skamania County: Hood River (OR), Multnomah (OR), Clark, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Lewis & Yakima.

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

  • Skamania County     (The home county of Willard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Hood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hood is located in Skamania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
    • Underwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Carson
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Stevenson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Stabler
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Stabler is located in Skamania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stabler
    • Moffetts Hot Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Moffetts Hot Springs is located in Skamania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffetts Hot Springs
    • North Bonneville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Skamania
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Skamania is located in Skamania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skamania
    • Cruzatt
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cruzatt is located in Skamania County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cruzatt
  • Klickitat County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Husum
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • B Z Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • B Z Corner is located in Klickitat County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for B Z Corner
    • White Salmon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bingen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Trout Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Appleton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lyle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Klickitat
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Glenwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Dallesport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Wahkiacus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wahkiacus is located in Klickitat County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahkiacus
  • Hood River County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Hood River
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Grove is located in Hood River County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
    • Odell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lenz
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lenz is located in Hood River County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenz
      • Lenz has also been known as:
      • Sherman Spur
    • Cascade Locks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Hood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Mount Hood is located in Hood River County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hood
    • Parkdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Multnomah County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Bonneville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
    • Warrendale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Warrendale is located in Multnomah County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrendale
    • Dodson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Dodson is located in Multnomah County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
    • Bridal Veil
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Wasco County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Willard, with the one closest to Willard listed first.
    • Mosier
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Mosier is located in Wasco County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mosier <1>
    • Ortley ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Ortley is located in Wasco County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortley
    • Rowena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Chenoweth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Chenoweth is located in Wasco County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenoweth
    • City of The Dalles
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • City of The Dalles is located in Wasco County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City of The Dalles
    • The Dalles
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Endersby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Endersby is located in Wasco County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endersby

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

Cemeteries Near Willard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willard.

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

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

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

  • Frankton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankton Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Frankton Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Hood River (OR).
    • The Frankton Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Backus Cemetery
    • Irving Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2276895 <2>
  • Idlewilde Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Mark the Evangelist Church Columbarium
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountain View Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Grove Butte Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilmer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Stevenson Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevenson Cemetery
    • The Stevenson Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
  • McQuinn Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Shelley Family Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson Family Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mosier Pioneer Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (24 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.<4>

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

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

  • White Salmon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilmer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilmer is located in Klickitat County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmer
  • Mosier
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mosier is located in Wasco County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosier
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mosier <1>
  • Trout Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Lyle
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Bonneville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonneville is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonneville
  • Rowena
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Dodson
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dodson is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodson
  • Glenwood
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Oneonta
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Oneonta is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneonta
  • The Dalles
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Multnomah Falls
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Multnomah Falls is located in Multnomah County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Multnomah Falls

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

Newspapers Published in Willard ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willard, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willard.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Willard:

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Willard) 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 Willard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.