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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 Five Corners (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 Five Corners. 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 Five Corners ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Five Corners: Five Cors.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Five Corners. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Five Corners.

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 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.

Five Corners is located in Thurston 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 Thurston County: Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason & Pierce.

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

  • Thurston County     (The home county of Five Corners)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Corners, with the one closest to Five Corners listed first.
    • Yelm
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yelm <1>
    • North Yelm
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • North Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Yelm
    • Rainier
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nisqually Indian Community
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Kellys Korner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • McIntosh
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • East Olympia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Tanglewilde
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Tanglewilde is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewilde
    • Lacey
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Tenino
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Tumwater
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Olympia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucoda
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Grays Harbor County
    • Chehalis Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
  • King County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Corners, with the one closest to Five Corners listed first.
    • Milton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Tahlequah
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Tahlequah is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahlequah
    • Pacific
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Algona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Buenna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Buenna is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buenna
    • Federal Way
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Auburn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Corners, with the one closest to Five Corners listed first.
    • Cinebar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Centralia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fords Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
    • Mineral
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Galvin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lacamas
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Lacamas is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacamas
    • Onalaska
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Chehalis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Salkum
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Newaukum
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Ethel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Mossyrock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Claquato
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Claquato is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Corners, with the one closest to Five Corners listed first.
    • New Kamilche
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • Grapeview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayshore
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Corners, with the one closest to Five Corners listed first.
    • McKenna
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Mock City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Mock City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock City
    • Roy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Roy is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <1>
    • Fort Lewis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • South Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • South Creek is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Creek
    • DuPont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Elk Plain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Elk Plain is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Plain
    • Tillicum
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Tillicum is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillicum
    • Spanaway
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • La Grande
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Clay City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Clay City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
    • Eatonville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Frederickson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Frederickson is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederickson

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

Cemeteries Near Five Corners ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Five Corners.

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 Five Corners - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Yelm Rainier Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Rainier Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Roy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • King Hill Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Hill Pioneer Cemetery
    • The King Hill Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • King Hill Indian Cemetery
  • Ross Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Cemetery
    • The Smith Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Henry Smith Cemetery
  • Jeschke Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ft. Lewis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Wren Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jensen Pioneer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Bethany Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (67 more) ...
    • Mashel Prairie Indian Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Rainier Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier Cemetery
      • The Rainier Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Old Indian Cemetery
      • Old Pioneer Cemetery
      • Rainer Free Cemetery
      • Stringtown Cemetery
    • Fir Lane Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Yelm
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Yelm is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelm
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yelm <1>
  • Roy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Roy is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <1>
  • McIntosh
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
  • Hillhurst
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Hillhurst is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillhurst
  • Leber
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Leber is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leber
  • Plumb
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Plumb is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb
  • Tenino
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Lacey
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • 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>
  • Eatonville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Lake City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Lake City is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
  • Tumwater
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Bucoda
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Steilacoom
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Lakeview is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Olympia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Five Corners ...

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 Five Corners.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Five Corners, 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 Five Corners.

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 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 Five Corners:

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 Five Corners, 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- Five Corners) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.