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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 Thama (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 Thama. 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.

Thama is located in Bonner County.

To see how the shape of Idaho's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bonner County: Boundary, Kootenai, Lincoln, Shoshone, Sanders (MT), Pend Oreille (WA) & Spokane (WA).

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

  • Bonner County     (The home county of Thama)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thama, with the one closest to Thama listed first.
    • Priest River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Laclede
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Wrencoe
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Wrencoe is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrencoe
    • Oldtown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cocolalla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Dufort
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Dufort is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dufort
    • Westmond
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Westmond is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmond
    • Blanchard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Careywood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Algoma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Algoma is located in Bonner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algoma
    • Sagle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Dover
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandpoint
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Kootenai County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thama, with the one closest to Thama listed first.
    • Spirit Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Athol
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bayview
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Echo Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Echo Beach is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Beach
    • Belmont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Belmont is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Sturgeon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Sturgeon is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
    • Garwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Garwood is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garwood
    • Rathdrum
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Coeur d'Alene Junction
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hauser
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hayden Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hayden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hayden is located in Kootenai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayden <1>
    • Dalton Gardens
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Pend Oreille County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thama, with the one closest to Thama listed first.
    • Newport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Newport is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,266 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newport <1>
    • Camden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Camden is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
    • Dalkena
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Dalkena is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalkena
    • Usk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cusick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cusick is located in Pend Oreille County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cusick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cusick <1>
  • Spokane County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thama, with the one closest to Thama listed first.
    • Elk
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grays Landing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Grays Landing is located in Spokane County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Landing
    • Newman Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Chattaroy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Bluff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Green Bluff is located in Spokane County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bluff
    • Peone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Peone is located in Spokane County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone

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

Cemeteries Near Thama ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thama.

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

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

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

  • Seneacquoteen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Newport Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Westmond Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Drake Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lakeview Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Sandpoint.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80533 <2>
  • Pinecrest Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pinecrest Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Clara Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Rimrock Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Pack River Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pack River Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Pack River Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> to the northeast of Sandpoint.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80594 <2>
    • Old Hope 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.<4>

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

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

  • Priest River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cocolalla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Athol
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandpoint
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Kootenai
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Ramsey
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Ramsey is located in Kootenai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
  • Rathdrum
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Hauser
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Chattaroy
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Peone
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Peone is located in Spokane County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone

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

Newspapers Published in Thama ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thama.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thama, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thama.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Thama:

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 '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- Thama) 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 Thama, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.