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 Beach (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 Beach. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
Beach is located in Whatcom 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 Whatcom County: Okanogan, San Juan & Skagit.
Below are the counties that are near Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Beach:
- Whatcom County (The home county of Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beach, with the one closest to Beach listed first.
- Lummi Island
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lummi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lummi is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
- Marietta
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Marietta is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
- Chuckanut Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
- Bellingham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Ferndale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Kickerville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Kickerville is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickerville
- Silver Beach
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
- Geneva
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Geneva is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Birch Bay
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Custer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Sudden Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
- Island County
- Oak Harbor
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- San Juan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beach, with the one closest to Beach listed first.
- Olga
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Eastsound
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Orcas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Decatur Island
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Deer Harbor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Waldron
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Waldron is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
- Lopez
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lopez is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez
- Shaw Island
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shaw Island is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Island
- Lopez Island
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
- Friday Harbor
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Argyle
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Argyle is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Roche Harbor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Skagit County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beach, with the one closest to Beach listed first.
- Urban
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Urban is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
- Indian Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Indian Village is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Anacortes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Edison
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Edison is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Alger
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Alger is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
- Alexander Beach
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Alexander Beach is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Beach
- Bow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bay View
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Bay View is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
- Similk Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Similk Beach is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Similk Beach
- Snee Oosh
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Snee Oosh is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snee Oosh
- Swinomish Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Swinomish Village is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinomish Village
- Burlington
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Beach.
Cemeteries Near Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Beach.
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 Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Beach, with the one closest to Beach listed first.
- Lummi Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Olga - Doe Bay Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sunnyland Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Eden Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bayview Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bayview Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Bellingham.
- The Bayview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bay View Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76707 <2>
- Greenacres Memorial Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Ferndale.
- The Woodlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
- Paradise Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77126 <2>
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Enterprise Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Shaw Island Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Grandview Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Bow Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (44 more) ...
- Greenwood Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hillsdale Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Bay View Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Beach had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Beach, with the one closest to Beach listed first.
- Doe Bay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay
- Marietta
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Marietta is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
- Lummi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lummi is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
- Fairhaven
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Fairhaven is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
- Olga
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Chuckanut
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Chuckanut is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut
- Bellingham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brennan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Brennan is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brennan
- Mountain View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Mountain View is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Eastsound
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Silver Beach
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
- Guemes
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Guemes is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guemes
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Samish
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Samish is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samish
- Geneva
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Geneva is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Van Wyck
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Van Wyck is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Wyck
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Beach.
Newspapers Published in Beach ...
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 116 newspapers that have been published in the area around Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Beach, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Beach:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Whatcom County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Island County
- San Juan County
- Skagit County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Washington
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 Beach, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |