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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 Balch (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 Balch. 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 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.

Balch is located in Grays Harbor 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 Grays Harbor County: Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific & Thurston.

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

  • Grays Harbor County     (The home county of Balch)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Oakville
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Chehalis Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
    • Cedarville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Porter
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Malone - Porter
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
    • Malone
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Sine
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
    • Elma
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
    • Garden City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • McCleary
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • McCleary Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
    • Brady
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
    • Satsop
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Galvin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Doty
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Fayette
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Fayette is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Fords Prairie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
    • Adna
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Centralia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Claquato
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Claquato is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
    • Curtis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Pe Ell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Chehalis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Newaukum
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Napavine
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Urban
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Saint Urban is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Urban
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • New Kamilche
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • Shelton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Deckerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Deckerville is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deckerville
    • Matlock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Matlock is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
  • Pacific County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Lebam
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Menlo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Menlo is located in Pacific County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
    • Raymond
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • South Bend
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Independence
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Rochester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
    • Grand Mound
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Littlerock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bucoda
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Tenino
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Tumwater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • East Olympia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • McIntosh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • Olympia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kellys Korner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • Lacey
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lacey is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Balch ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Balch.

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

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

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

  • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Grand Mound Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Sylvan Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Washington Lawn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Claquato Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Oddfellow Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Elma Catholic Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • McCleary Pythian Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Fern Hill Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)

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 Balch in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Balch.

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

  • Oakville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Cedarville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
  • Rochester
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Porter
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
  • Grand Mound
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Fayette
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fayette is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
  • Littlerock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Claquato
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Claquato is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
  • Centralia
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Elma
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
  • Pe Ell
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Chehalis
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Bucoda
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Belmore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Belmore is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmore
    • Satsop
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop

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

Newspapers Published in Balch ...

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 125 newspapers that have been published in the area around Balch.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Balch, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Balch.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Balch:

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 Balch, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Balch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.