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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 Fords Prairie (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 Fords Prairie. 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 Fords Prairie ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Fords Prairie: Fords Pr.
  • While the name of this community is Fords Prairie, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fords Prairie may originally have been Ford's Prairie.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fords Prairie might be written as Ford Prairie.

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 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 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.

Fords Prairie is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, Wahkiakum & Yakima.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Fords Prairie)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Prairie, with the one closest to Fords Prairie listed first.
    • Galvin
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Centralia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Chehalis
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Claquato
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
      • Claquato is located in Lewis County
    • Newaukum
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newaukum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
    • Adna
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fayette
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayette have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
      • Fayette is located in Lewis County
    • Napavine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Curtis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Urban
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Urban
      • Saint Urban is located in Lewis County
    • Doty
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Onalaska
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Winlock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Cowlitz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Prairie, with the one closest to Fords Prairie listed first.
    • Olequa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olequa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
      • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
    • Ryderwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryderwood
      • Ryderwood is located in Cowlitz County
    • Toutle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Grays Harbor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Prairie, with the one closest to Fords Prairie listed first.
    • Chehalis Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chehalis Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Oakville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Porter
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Malone - Porter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Malone
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Sine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
    • McCleary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
    • McCleary Junction
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Elma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <2>
    • Satsop
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Brady
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
      • Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Mason County
    • New Kamilche
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Kamilche have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
  • Pacific County
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Prairie, with the one closest to Fords Prairie listed first.
    • McKenna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Mock City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mock City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock City
      • Mock City is located in Pierce County
    • Roy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
      • Roy is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <2>
    • DuPont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Lewis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
      • Fort Lewis is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Lewis <2>
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Prairie, with the one closest to Fords Prairie listed first.
    • Grand Mound
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bucoda
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rochester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Independence
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
    • Tenino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
    • Littlerock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • McIntosh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
    • East Olympia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rainier
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Tumwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Kellys Korner
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
    • Olympia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Fords Prairie ...

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 106 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fords Prairie.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fords Prairie, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fords Prairie.

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 Fords Prairie:

Cemeteries Near Fords Prairie ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fords Prairie.

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 Fords Prairie covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Washington Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washington Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washington Lawn Cemetery
  • Grand Mound Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Mound Cemetery
  • Claquato Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fern Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fern Hill Cemetery
  • Forest Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Cemetery
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finnish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finnish Cemetery
  • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
  • Sylvan Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Alpha Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alpha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alpha Cemetery
  • Continue List   (25 more) ...
    • Rainier Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Mills & Mills Memorial Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mills & Mills Memorial Park is located outside and to the southwest of Tumwater.
      • The Mills & Mills Memorial Park has also been known as:
      • Olympic Memorial Garden Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mills & Mills Memorial Park
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76974 <6>
    • Union Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.<7>

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

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

  • Centralia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Grand Mound
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Chehalis
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Claquato
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
    • Claquato is located in Lewis County
  • Newaukum
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newaukum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
  • Bucoda
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rochester
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Fayette
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayette have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Fayette is located in Lewis County
  • Tenino
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Napavine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Littlerock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • McIntosh
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Oakville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Plumb
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plumb have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb
      • Plumb is located in Thurston County
    • Boistfort
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boistfort have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boistfort
      • Boistfort is located in Lewis County

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

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

The official website for Lewis County: www.co.lewis.wa.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Fords Prairie) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fords Prairie. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.7351, Longitude: -122.9890       In this case, the coordinates for Fords Prairie have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.
<7>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 Fords Prairie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024