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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 East Selah (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 East Selah. 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 East Selah ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for East Selah: E. Selah

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

East Selah is located in Yakima County.

To see how the shape of Washington's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Yakima County: Benton, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Pierce & Skamania.

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

  • Yakima County     (The home county of East Selah)
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Selah, with the one closest to East Selah listed first.
    • Selah
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Yakima
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Terrace Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terrace Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrace Heights
      • Terrace Heights is located in Yakima County
    • Fruitvale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruitvale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitvale
      • Fruitvale is located in Yakima County
    • South Broadway
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Broadway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Broadway
      • South Broadway is located in Yakima County
    • Eschbach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eschbach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eschbach
      • Eschbach is located in Yakima County
    • Gleed
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Union Gap
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • West Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Valley
      • West Valley is located in Yakima County
    • Moxee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Summitview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summitview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitview
      • Summitview is located in Yakima County
    • Moxee City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moxee City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moxee City
      • Moxee City is located in Yakima County
    • Ahtanum
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ahtanum
      • Ahtanum is located in Yakima County
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Selah, with the one closest to East Selah listed first.
    • Desert Aire
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Mattawa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Beverly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wanapum Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wanapum Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanapum Village
      • Wanapum Village is located in Grant County
  • Kittitas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Selah, with the one closest to East Selah listed first.
    • Hillside Siding
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hillside Siding. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Siding
      • Hillside Siding is located in Kittitas County
    • Kittitas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ellensburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Thorp
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Vantage
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near East Selah ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of East Selah.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Terrace Heights Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tahoma Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holland Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yemowat Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yemowat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yemowat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Rosary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Rosary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wenas Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wenas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wenas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Hills Memorial Gardens
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Hills Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Hills Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emeunot Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emeunot Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emeunot Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sloutier Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sloutier Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sloutier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saluskin Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saluskin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saluskin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wah-Lal-La-Kite Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wah-Lal-La-Kite Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wah-Lal-La-Kite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old German Baptist Cascade Valley Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Zillah Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 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.<6>

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

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

  • Selah
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Yakima
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Moxee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Roza
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roza have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roza
    • Roza is located in Kittitas County
  • Ahtanum
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ahtanum
    • Ahtanum is located in Yakima County
  • Cowiche
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Parker
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
    • Parker is located in Yakima County
  • Umtanum
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Umtanum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umtanum
    • Umtanum is located in Kittitas County
  • Thrall
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thrall have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrall
    • Thrall is located in Kittitas County
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Wenas
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wenas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wenas
      • Wenas is located in Yakima County
    • Tampico
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampico
      • Tampico is located in Yakima County
    • Holmes
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holmes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
      • Holmes is located in Kittitas County
    • Toppenish
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ellensburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Thorp
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in East Selah ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around East Selah.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of East Selah, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for East Selah.

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 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 East Selah:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for East Selah. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Yakima County: www.pan.co.yakima.wa.us/

The official website for State of Washington: https://wa.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- East Selah) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in East Selah. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.6646, Longitude: -120.4878       In this case, the coordinates for East Selah have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 East Selah, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025