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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 Ames Lake (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 Ames Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Ames Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Ames Lake: Ames Lk.
  • While the name of this community is Ames Lake, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Ames Lake may originally have been Ame's Lake.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Ames Lake might be written as Ame Lake.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Ames Lake is located in King 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 King County: Chelan, Kittitas, Pierce & Snohomish.

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

  • King County     (The home county of Ames Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames Lake, with the one closest to Ames Lake listed first.
    • Carnation
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sammamish
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lake Marcel - Stillwater
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Union Hill - Novelty Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Inglewood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Inglewood is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inglewood
    • Sahalee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Sahalee is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sahalee
    • Fall City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Lake is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
    • Adelaide
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Adelaide is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelaide
    • Spring Glen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Glen is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Glen
    • Duvall
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Preston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Issaquah
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Island County
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames Lake, with the one closest to Ames Lake listed first.
    • Yeomalt
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Yeomalt is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeomalt
    • Bainbridge Island
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Bainbridge Island is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,358 people
      • Bainbridge Island has also been known as:
      • Winslow
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bainbridge Island <2>
    • Fort Ward
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Fort Ward is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ward
    • Manitou Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Manitou Beach is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manitou Beach
    • Port Blakely ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Port Blakely is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blakely
    • Rolling Bay
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Rolling Bay is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Bay
    • Port Madison
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Port Madison is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Madison
    • Southworth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Southworth is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southworth
    • Kingston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Colby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Colchester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Colchester is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colchester
    • Indianola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Manchester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames Lake, with the one closest to Ames Lake listed first.
    • Lake Tapps
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lake Tapps is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps
    • Dash Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dash Point is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dash Point
    • Edgewood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Northeast Tacoma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Northeast Tacoma is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northeast Tacoma
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames Lake, with the one closest to Ames Lake listed first.
    • Echo Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Echo Lake is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Lake
    • Maltby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Maltby is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maltby
    • Monroe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Monroe is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,681 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monroe <2>
    • Canyon Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Canyon Park is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon Park
    • Clearview
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Clearview is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
    • Cathcart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cathcart is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cathcart
    • North Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • North Creek is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Creek
    • Woods Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Woods Creek is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Creek
    • Sultan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sultan is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sultan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,673 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sultan <2>
    • Brier
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Brier is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brier <2>
    • North Sultan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • North Sultan is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sultan
    • Gold Bar
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Alderwood Manor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Alderwood Manor is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderwood Manor

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

Cemeteries Near Ames Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ames Lake.

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 Ames Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Fall City Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Eastside Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Sunset Hills Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Kirkland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Everest Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Woodinville Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery
    • The Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Maple Valley Hobart Cemetery
  • Monroe Memorial Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (50 more) ...
    • Comet Lodge Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet Lodge Cemetery
      • The Comet Lodge Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Georgetown Cemetery
      • Graham Street Burying Ground
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Acacia Memorial Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acacia Memorial Park
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Acacia Memorial Park is a very large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the north of Lake City.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76695 <3>

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.<5>

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

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

  • Inglewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Inglewood is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inglewood
  • Fall City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Adelaide
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Adelaide is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelaide
  • Novelty
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Novelty is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novelty
  • Monohan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Monohan is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monohan
  • Preston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • White
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • White is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
  • Redmond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Snoqualmie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Snoqualmie Falls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Snoqualmie Falls is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snoqualmie Falls
  • Coal Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coal Creek is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
  • York
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • York is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Newcastle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kirkland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Houghton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Houghton is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton

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

Newspapers Published in Ames Lake ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ames Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ames Lake, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ames Lake.

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 Ames Lake:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ames Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<5>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 Ames Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.