RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Stevens County >> Grays >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Washington

The Commemorative Quarter for Washington





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 Grays (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 Grays. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Grays is located in Stevens 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 Stevens County: Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille & Spokane.

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

  • Stevens County     (The home county of Grays)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays, with the one closest to Grays listed first.
    • Kulzer
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kulzer
      • Kulzer is located in Stevens County
    • Springdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Waits
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waits
      • Waits is located in Stevens County
    • Loon Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Chewelah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Clavton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Clayton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Tumtum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumtum
      • Tumtum is located in Stevens County
    • Addy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Wellpinit
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellpinit
      • Wellpinit is located in Stevens County
  • Ferry County
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays, with the one closest to Grays listed first.
    • Long Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Long Lake is located in Lincoln County
    • Miles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
      • Miles is located in Lincoln County
    • Fort Spokane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spokane
      • Fort Spokane is located in Lincoln County
    • Reardan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Pend Oreille County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays, with the one closest to Grays listed first.
    • Camden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
      • Camden is located in Pend Oreille County
    • Dalkena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalkena
      • Dalkena is located in Pend Oreille County
    • Usk
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cusick
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cusick
      • Cusick is located in Pend Oreille County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cusick <1>
  • Spokane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays, with the one closest to Grays listed first.
    • Deer Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Grays Landing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Landing
      • Grays Landing is located in Spokane County
    • Elk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Chattaroy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Nine Mile Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Colbert
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Dartford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartford
      • Dartford is located in Spokane County
    • Fairwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairwood
      • Fairwood is located in Spokane County
    • Country Homes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Homes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Homes
      • Country Homes is located in Spokane County
    • Green Bluff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bluff
      • Green Bluff is located in Spokane County
    • Mead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Town and Country
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town and Country have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town and Country
      • Town and Country is located in Spokane County

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

Newspapers Published in Grays ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grays.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grays, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grays.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Grays:

Cemeteries Near Grays ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grays.

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

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

  • Chewelah Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chewelah Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chewelah Memorial Park
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
  • Zion Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Hill Cemetery
  • Chewelah City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chewelah City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chewelah City Cemetery
  • Scotts Valley Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Tumtum Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tumtum Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tumtum Cemetery
  • Williams Valley Hillside Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Valley Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Valley Hillside Cemetery
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Kelly Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kelly Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kelly Cemetery
  • Summit Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Summit Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Summit Valley Cemetery
  • Chief Lot Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chief Lot Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chief Lot Cemetery
  • Wild Rose Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wild Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wild Rose Cemetery
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Milan Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stranger Creek Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stranger Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stranger Creek Cemetery
    • Wayside Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wayside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wayside Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Springdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Loon Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chewelah
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Deer Park
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Addy
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Hazard
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hazard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazard
    • Hazard is located in Spokane County
  • Hunters
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Fruitland
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Chattaroy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Arden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arden
      • Arden is located in Stevens County
    • Buckeye
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckeye have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Buckeye is located in Spokane County
    • Daisy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
      • Daisy is located in Stevens County
    • Miles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
      • Miles is located in Lincoln County
    • Mead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

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

The official website for Stevens County: www.co.stevens.wa.us/

The official website for State of Washington: https://access.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Grays) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grays. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.1069, Longitude: -117.7515    
<4>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.
<5>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 Grays, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024