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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 Headquarters (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 Headquarters. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Headquarters is located in Cowlitz 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 Cowlitz County: Columbia (OR), Clark, Lewis, Skamania & Wahkiakum.

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

  • Cowlitz County     (The home county of Headquarters)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Headquarters, with the one closest to Headquarters listed first.
    • Silver Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Toutle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Castle Rock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
    • Ostrander
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ostrander is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostrander
    • Kelso
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
    • Longview Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Longview Heights is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview Heights
    • Rose Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Rose Valley is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
    • Longview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Olequa
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
    • West Longview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • West Longview is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Longview
    • Coal Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Coal Creek is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Headquarters, with the one closest to Headquarters listed first.
    • Woodland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Etna
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Etna is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • La Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Amboy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fargher Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fargher Lake is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargher Lake
    • Ridgefield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Chelatchie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Chelatchie is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelatchie
    • Pioneer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Pioneer is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Headquarters, with the one closest to Headquarters listed first.
    • Toledo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Vader
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Winlock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ethel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Saint Urban
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Saint Urban is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Urban
    • Salkum
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Silver Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lacamas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Lacamas is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacamas
    • Onalaska
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Napavine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mossyrock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Wahkiakum County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Headquarters, with the one closest to Headquarters listed first.
    • Eagle Cliff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Eagle Cliff is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Cliff
    • East Cathlamet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • East Cathlamet is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cathlamet
    • Cathlamet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Clatsop County (OR)
  • Columbia County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Headquarters, with the one closest to Headquarters listed first.
    • Rainier
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
    • Prescott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Prescott is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Beaver Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Beaver Springs is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Springs
    • Mayger
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Mayger is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
    • Goble
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
    • Reuben
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Reuben is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
    • Quincy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Quincy is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
    • Deer Island
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Clatskanie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Columbia City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Saint Helens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Pittsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pittsburg is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg

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

Cemeteries Near Headquarters ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Headquarters.

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 Headquarters - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Smith - Tucker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Stockport Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockport Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stockport Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Pleasant Hill.
    • The Stockport Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #545650 <3>
  • Silver Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Silver Lake Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the west of Toutle.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77049 <3>
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for IOOF Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the IOOF Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the east of Castle Rock.
    • The IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76862 <3>
  • Rosin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosin Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rosin Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> to the northeast of Castle Rock.
    • The Rosin Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosin Cemetery
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77025 <3>
  • Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Castle Rock.
    • The Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hubbard Cemetery
    • Meadowview Cemetery
    • Whittle and Hubbard Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77115 <3>
  • Green Hills Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Tower Twp. Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tower Twp. Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<2> to the northeast of Castle Rock.
    • The Tower Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2277304 <3>
  • Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens is a very large cemetery that is located in Kelso.
    • The Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • Kelso IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #281134 <3>
  • Catlin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Rose Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (60 more) ...
    • Longview Memorial Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mt. Solo Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dibblee House
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Silver Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Sightly
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sightly is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sightly
  • Toutle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Castle Rock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Lexington
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lexington is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
  • Kelso
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
  • Olequa
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
  • Carrolls
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Toledo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Rainier
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
  • Cowlitz
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cowlitz is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowlitz
  • Mayger
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Mayger is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Stella
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Stella is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
    • Goble
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
    • Kalama
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Headquarters ...

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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Headquarters.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Headquarters, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Headquarters.

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 Headquarters:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Headquarters) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Headquarters, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.