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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 Wakefield (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 Wakefield. 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.

Wakefield is located in Tillamook 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 Tillamook County: Clatsop, Columbia, Lincoln, Polk, Washington & Yamhill.

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

  • Tillamook County     (The home county of Wakefield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Foss
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Foss is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foss
    • Wheeler
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Nehalem
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Manzanita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Nedonna Beach
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Nedonna Beach is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nedonna Beach
    • Jordan Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jordan Creek is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan Creek
    • Rockaway Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Garibaldi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Twin Rocks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin Rocks is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Rocks
    • Ryan's Camp ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ryan's Camp is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan's Camp
      • Ryan's Camp has also been known as:
      • Idiotville
    • Barview
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hobsonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hobsonville is located in Tillamook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobsonville
  • Clatsop County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Vinemaple
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Vinemaple is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinemaple
    • Arch Cape
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Tolovana Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jewell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jewell is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
    • Cannon Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Seaside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Gearhart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Chadwell ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Chadwell is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chadwell
    • Jeffers Garden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jeffers Garden is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeffers Garden
    • Svensen Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Svensen Junction is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svensen Junction
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Keasey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Keasey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keasey
    • Fishhawk ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Fishhawk is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishhawk
    • Vernonia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Pittsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pittsburg is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wakefield, with the one closest to Wakefield listed first.
    • Timber
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Buxton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Gales Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Manning
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Kansas City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Kansas City is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas City
    • Banks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Banks is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,034 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Banks <1>
    • Watts
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Watts is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watts

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

Cemeteries Near Wakefield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wakefield.

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

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

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

  • Hamlet Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Sunny Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jewell Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Bay City IOOF Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Grave Of The Unknown Sailor
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Trout Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Tillamook IOOF Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Sunset Heights Memorial Gardens
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Trask Fairview Pioneer Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trask Fairview Pioneer Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Trask Fairview Pioneer Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Fairview.
    • The Trask Fairview Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fairview Pioneer Cemetery
    • Trask Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2162492 <2>
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • North Cemetery of Clear Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Sacred Heart Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Hayward Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 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.<3>

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

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

  • Nehalem
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Vinemaple
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Vinemaple is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinemaple
  • Hobsonville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hobsonville is located in Tillamook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobsonville
  • Jewell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jewell is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
  • Cannon Beach
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bay City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Barnegat ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Barnegat is located in Tillamook County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnegat
  • Keasey
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Keasey is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keasey
  • Tillamook
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Seaside
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Glenwood
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Glenwood is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Melville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Melville is located in Clatsop County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Netarts
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Olney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Olney is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olney
    • Chadwell ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Chadwell is located in Clatsop County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chadwell

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

Newspapers Published in Wakefield ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wakefield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wakefield, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wakefield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Wakefield:

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 Wakefield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Wakefield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.