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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 Melville (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 Melville. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Melville is located in Clatsop County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Clatsop County: Columbia, Tillamook, Washington, Pacific (WA) & Wahkiakum (WA).

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

  • Clatsop County     (The home county of Melville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melville, with the one closest to Melville listed first.
    • Chadwell ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Chadwell is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chadwell
    • Gearhart
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Seaside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jeffers Garden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jeffers Garden is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeffers Garden
    • Astoria
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Warrenton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Tongue Point Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Tongue Point Village is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tongue Point Village
    • Hammond
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Svensen Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Svensen Junction is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svensen Junction
    • Cannon Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Tolovana Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Arch Cape
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melville, with the one closest to Melville listed first.
    • Fishhawk ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Fishhawk is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishhawk
    • Keasey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Keasey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keasey
    • Clatskanie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Tillamook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melville, with the one closest to Melville listed first.
    • Nehalem
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Manzanita
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Foss
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Foss is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foss
    • Wheeler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Nedonna Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Nedonna Beach is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nedonna Beach
  • Pacific County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melville, with the one closest to Melville listed first.
    • Megler
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Megler is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Megler
    • Knappton ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Knappton is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knappton
    • Chinook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Fort Canby
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Fort Canby is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Canby
    • Pacific City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Pacific City is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific City
    • Ilwaco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ilwaco is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilwaco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ilwaco <1>
    • Naselle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Seaview
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Breakers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Breakers is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakers
  • Wahkiakum County (WA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melville, with the one closest to Melville listed first.
    • Altoona
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Altoona is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
    • Dahlia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dahlia is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahlia
    • Brookfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookfield is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Deep River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Deep River is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
    • Rosburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grays River
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Skamokawa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Cathlamet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • East Cathlamet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • East Cathlamet is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cathlamet
    • Eagle Cliff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Eagle Cliff is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Cliff

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

Cemeteries Near Melville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melville.

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

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

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

  • Lewis & Clark Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
    • The Greenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Crestview Greenwood Cemetery
    • Green Wood Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38848 <2>
  • Clatsop Plains Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Grave Of The Unknown Sailor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Ocean View Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Warrenton Pauper Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Astoria Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Ft. Stevens Post Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Svensen Pioneer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svensen Pioneer Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Svensen Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Svensen Junction.
    • The Svensen Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Forest Hill Cemetery
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Svensen Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #38789 <2>
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (22 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Melville had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Chadwell ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Chadwell is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chadwell
  • Olney
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Olney is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
  • Seaside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Skipanon ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Skipanon is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipanon
  • Astoria
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Cannon Beach
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Knappton ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Knappton is located in Pacific County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knappton
  • Knappa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Knappa is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knappa
  • Frankfort ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Frankfort is located in Pacific County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankfort
  • Vinemaple
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Vinemaple is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinemaple
  • Jewell
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jewell is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
  • Fort Canby
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Fort Canby is located in Pacific County (WA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Canby
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ilwaco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ilwaco is located in Pacific County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ilwaco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,006 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ilwaco <1>
    • Brookfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookfield is located in Wahkiakum County (WA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Clifton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Clifton is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton

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

Newspapers Published in Melville ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melville, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Melville.

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 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 Melville:

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>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 Melville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 from Point A (ie- Melville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.