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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 Doran (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 Doran. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

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

  • Whatcom County     (The home county of Doran)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doran, with the one closest to Doran listed first.
    • Saxon
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Saxon is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
    • Wickersham
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
    • Acme
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Clipper
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Clipper is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
    • Sudden Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
    • Deming
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Welcome
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
    • Geneva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
    • Silver Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Chuckanut Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
    • Bellingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Kendall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Kendall is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
    • Everson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doran, with the one closest to Doran listed first.
    • Olga
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Decatur Island
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Skagit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doran, with the one closest to Doran listed first.
    • Alger
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Alger is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Sedro - Woolley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Lyman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Edison
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Edison is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
    • Clear Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Hamilton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Burlington
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Mount Vernon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Bay View
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Bay View is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
    • Big Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Big Lake is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
    • Montborne
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Montborne is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montborne
    • Skagit City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Skagit City is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skagit City
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Doran, with the one closest to Doran listed first.
    • Lake Ketchum
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lake Ketchum is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ketchum
    • North Stanwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • North Stanwood is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stanwood
    • Bryant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bryant is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Oso
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Oso is located in Snohomish County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oso

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

Cemeteries Near Doran ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Doran.

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

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

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

  • Saxon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Van Zandt Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Union Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Bow Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lyman Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bayview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • 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>
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sunnyland Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Green Hills Memorial Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Clear Lake Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Kendall Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (30 more) ...
    • Bay View Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hawthorne Memorial Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Nooksack Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 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>

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

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

  • Saxon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Saxon is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
  • Wickersham
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
  • Acme
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Prairie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Prairie is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
  • Alger
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Alger is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
  • Welcome
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
  • Deming
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Geneva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Samish
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Samish is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samish
  • Silver Beach
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
  • Lyman
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Goshen
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Goshen is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wahl
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Wahl is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahl
    • Van Wyck
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Van Wyck is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Wyck
    • Chuckanut
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Chuckanut is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut

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

Newspapers Published in Doran ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Doran.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Doran, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Doran.

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 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 Doran:

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 Doran, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Doran) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.