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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 Forest Beach (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 Forest Beach. 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 Forest Beach ...

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 Forest Beach: Forest Bch.

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

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.

Forest Beach is located in Pierce 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 Pierce County: King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Thurston & Yakima.

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

  • Pierce County     (The home county of Forest Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Beach, with the one closest to Forest Beach listed first.
    • Artondale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Artondale is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
    • Cromwell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Cromwell is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
    • Rosedale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rosedale is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Home
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Home is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
    • Vaughn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Vaughn is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughn
    • Fox Island
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakebay
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gig Harbor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gertrude
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Gertrude is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gertrude
    • Meridian
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Meridian is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Wauna
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Wauna is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauna
    • Longbranch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Herron Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Jefferson County
  • King County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Beach, with the one closest to Forest Beach listed first.
    • Tahlequah
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Tahlequah is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahlequah
    • Magnolia Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia Beach is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
    • Vashon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Buenna
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Buenna is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buenna
    • Federal Way
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Milton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Redondo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Redondo is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redondo
    • Vashon Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Vashon Heights is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vashon Heights
    • Woodmont Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Woodmont Beach is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmont Beach
    • Zenith
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Zenith is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenith
    • Des Moines
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Normandy Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • North Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • North Hill is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hill
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Beach, with the one closest to Forest Beach listed first.
    • Burley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Olalla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethel
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • East Port Orchard
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • East Port Orchard is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Port Orchard
    • Gorst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Parkwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Parkwood is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Colby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Navy Yard City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Navy Yard City is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navy Yard City
    • Port Orchard
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Retsil
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Retsil is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retsil
    • South Park Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • South Colby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • South Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Colby
    • Southworth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Southworth is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southworth
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Beach, with the one closest to Forest Beach listed first.
    • Grapeview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Allyn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Belfair
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayshore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
    • Tahuya
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Union ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Union is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Shelton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • New Kamilche
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • Hoodsport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Potlatch
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Skokomish
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Skokomish is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skokomish
    • Lilliwaup
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Mohrweis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Mohrweis is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohrweis
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Beach, with the one closest to Forest Beach listed first.
    • Puget
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Puget is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
    • Tanglewilde
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Tanglewilde is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewilde
    • Lacey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Nisqually Indian Community
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Olympia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellys Korner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • Tumwater
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • East Olympia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • North Yelm
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • North Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Yelm
    • Yelm
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Rainier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • McIntosh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh

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

Cemeteries Near Forest Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Beach.

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 Forest Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Fox Island Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cromwell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell Cemetery
    • The Cromwell Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hales Passage Cemetery
    • Hales Passage Scandinavian Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2259125 <2>
  • Artondale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Rosedale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakebay Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Lutheran Cemetery
    • The German Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lakebay German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Old German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
  • Haven of Rest Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven of Rest Cemetery
    • Former name for Haven of Rest Cemetery:
    • Perkins Cemetery
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Minter Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minter Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Minter Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the west of Wauna.
    • The Minter Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Elgin Cemetery
  • Vaughn Bay Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughn Bay Cemetery
    • The Vaughn Bay Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bayview Cemetery
    • Niemann Family Cemetery
  • Longbranch Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gig Harbor Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gig Harbor Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gig Harbor Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Gig Harbor.
    • The Gig Harbor Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cresent Valley Cemetery
  • Continue List   (84 more) ...
    • New Tacoma Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Anderson Island Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ft. Steilacoom Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<4>

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

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

  • Artondale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Artondale is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
  • Rosedale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosedale is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Lakebay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Fox Island
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Minter
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Minter is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minter
  • Vaughn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Vaughn is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughn
  • Meridian
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Meridian is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Wollochet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Wollochet is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wollochet
  • Gig Harbor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Longbranch
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Purdy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Purdy is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purdy
  • Allyn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Steilacoom
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Puget
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Puget is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
    • Lake City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City

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

Newspapers Published in Forest Beach ...

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 161 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Beach, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Beach.

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 Forest Beach:

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>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- Forest Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Forest Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.