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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 Mason (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 Mason. 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 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.

Mason is located in Spokane 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 Spokane County: Benewah (ID), Bonner (ID), Kootenai (ID), Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens & Whitman.

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

  • Spokane County     (The home county of Mason)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Tyler
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Tyler is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
    • Cheney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeland Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Lakeland Village is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Village
    • Medical Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Silver Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Silver Lake is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • Four Lakes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Spangle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Marshall
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Marshall is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Deep Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Deep Creek is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek
    • Airway Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Spring Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Spring Valley is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Waverly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Waverly is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
    • Spokane
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Sprague
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Edwall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bluestem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Bluestem is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluestem
    • Reardan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Omans
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Omans is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omans
    • Harrington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mondovi
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Mondovi is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mondovi
    • Mohler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Mohler is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohler
    • Davenport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rocklyn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rocklyn is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocklyn
  • Whitman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mason, with the one closest to Mason listed first.
    • Lamont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Malden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine City is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
    • Juno
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Juno is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
    • Saint John
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosalia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Endicott
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Oakesdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakesdale is located in Whitman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakesdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people

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

Cemeteries Near Mason ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mason.

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

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

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

  • Lance Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Rockdale Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Macabee Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • New England Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Sassin Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Grisham Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Edwall Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Caylor Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Green Mound Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakes Memorial Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Pine City Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Annes Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 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.<3>

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

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

  • Tyler
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Tyler is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
  • Sprague
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Cheney
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Medical Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Pine City ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine City is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
  • Plaza
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Plaza is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plaza
  • Juno
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Juno is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
  • Spangle
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Marshall
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Marshall is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Saint John
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Deep Creek
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Deep Creek is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek
  • Sunset
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sunset is located in Whitman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Rosalia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Hite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Hite is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hite
    • Reardan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Mason ...

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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mason.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mason, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mason.

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 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 Mason:

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 Mason, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mason) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.