RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> King County >> Boise >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Boise (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 Boise. 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 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.

Boise 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 Boise. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Boise:

  • King County     (The home county of Boise)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boise, with the one closest to Boise listed first.
    • Osceola
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Osceola is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • Enumclaw
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Krain
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Krain is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krain
    • Black Diamond
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Franklin ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Franklin is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Green River
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Green River is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
    • One Hundred One Pines
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Palmer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Palmer is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
    • Lake Morton - Berrydale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Ravensdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Ravensdale is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravensdale
    • Kanaskat
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Kanaskat is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanaskat
    • Algona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Auburn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Kitsap County
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boise, with the one closest to Boise listed first.
    • Buckley
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • South Prairie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilkeson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Ridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Prairie Ridge is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Ridge
    • Carbonado
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Bonney Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lake Tapps
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Tapps is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps
    • Melmont ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Melmont is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melmont
    • Orting
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Alderton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Alderton is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderton
    • McMillin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • McMillin is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMillin
    • Sumner
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • North Puyallup
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • North Puyallup is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Puyallup

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

Cemeteries Near Boise ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boise.

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

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

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

  • Buckley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckley Cemetery
    • The Buckley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Buckley Public Cemetery
    • White River Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76722 <2>
  • Enumclaw Municipal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Krain Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Wilkeson Town Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Town Cemetery
    • The Wilkeson Town Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Knights of Pythias Cemetery
  • Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
    • The Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church Cemetery
  • Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery
    • The Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Dieringer Cemetery
    • Dieringer Pioneer Cemetery
  • Carbonado Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Franklin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Black Diamond Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • White Lake Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sumner Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner Cemetery
    • The Sumner Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sumner Pioneer Cemetery
    • Sumner Town Cemetery
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Orting Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orting Cemetery
      • The Orting Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Orting IOOF Cemetery
      • Orting IOOF Cemetery
    • Soldiers Home Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Home Cemetery
      • The Soldiers Home Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Old Soldiers Home Cemetery
    • Ravensdale Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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, Boise had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Buckley
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Osceola
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Osceola is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
  • Enumclaw
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Burnett
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnett is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnett
  • South Prairie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Cascade Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cascade Junction is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade Junction
  • Wilkeson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Veazie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Veazie is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veazie
  • Carbonado
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Green River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Green River is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
  • Franklin ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Franklin is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Black Diamond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Lake Tapps
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Tapps is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps
    • McMillin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • McMillin is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMillin
    • Orting
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Boise ...

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 147 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boise.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Boise, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Boise.

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 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 Boise:

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 Boise, 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 from Point A (ie- Boise) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.