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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 McMurray (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 McMurray. 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.

McMurray is located in Skagit 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 Skagit County: Chelan, Island, Okanogan, San Juan, Snohomish & Whatcom.

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

  • Skagit County     (The home county of McMurray)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McMurray, with the one closest to McMurray listed first.
    • Lake McMurray
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake McMurray
      • Lake McMurray is located in Skagit County
    • Montborne
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montborne
      • Montborne is located in Skagit County
    • Big Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
      • Big Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Conway
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Skagit City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skagit City
      • Skagit City is located in Skagit County
    • Mount Vernon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Cavanaugh
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Cavanaugh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Cavanaugh
      • Lake Cavanaugh is located in Skagit County
    • Clear Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Burlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Fish Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fish Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Town
      • Fish Town is located in Skagit County
    • Sedro - Woolley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • La Conner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Shelter Bay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelter Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Bay
      • Shelter Bay is located in Skagit County
  • Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McMurray, with the one closest to McMurray listed first.
    • Juniper Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Beach
      • Juniper Beach is located in Island County
    • Camano
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Camp Diana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Diana
      • Camp Diana is located in Island County
    • Oak Harbor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Langley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Greenbank
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Coupeville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • San de Fuca
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San de Fuca
      • San de Fuca is located in Island County
    • Clinton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Bay View
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
      • Bay View is located in Island County
    • Freeland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McMurray, with the one closest to McMurray listed first.
    • Marrowstone
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Nordland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Townsend
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • King County
    • Northwest Snohomish
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest Snohomish
      • Northwest Snohomish is located in King County
  • San Juan County
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McMurray, with the one closest to McMurray listed first.
    • Lake Ketchum
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Ketchum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ketchum
      • Lake Ketchum is located in Snohomish County
    • Bryant
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bryant. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
      • Bryant is located in Snohomish County
    • North Stanwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Stanwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stanwood
      • North Stanwood is located in Snohomish County
    • Silvana
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Florence
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Florence. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Snohomish County
    • Stanwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Arlington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakewood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Arlington Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington Heights
      • Arlington Heights is located in Snohomish County
    • Warm Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warm Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warm Beach
      • Warm Beach is located in Snohomish County
    • Utsalady
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utsalady
      • Utsalady is located in Snohomish County
    • Lake Goodwin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Goodwin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Goodwin
      • Lake Goodwin is located in Snohomish County
    • Smokey Point
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Whatcom County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McMurray, with the one closest to McMurray listed first.
    • Wickersham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wickersham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
      • Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
    • Saxon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Saxon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
      • Saxon is located in Whatcom County
    • Acme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Sudden Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sudden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
      • Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
    • Chuckanut Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chuckanut Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
    • Clipper
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
      • Clipper is located in Whatcom County
    • Geneva
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Geneva. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
      • Geneva is located in Whatcom County

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

Cemeteries Near McMurray ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McMurray.

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

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

  • Scandinavian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scandinavian Cemetery
    • The Scandinavian Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Milltown Cemetery
    • Old Milltown Lutheran Cemetery
    • Scandinavian Lutheran Cemetery
  • Skagit City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skagit City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skagit City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Saviours Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hawthorne Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hawthorne Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hawthorne Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Arlington Municipal Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arlington Municipal Cemetery
    • The Arlington Municipal Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Arlington Cemetery
    • Harwood Cemetery
  • Clear Lake Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Camano Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Hills Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Union Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Marysville Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Lyman Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lyman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lyman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, McMurray had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Montborne
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montborne
    • Montborne is located in Skagit County
  • Big Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
    • Big Lake is located in Skagit County
  • Bryant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bryant. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Bryant is located in Snohomish County
  • Florence
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Florence. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
    • Florence is located in Snohomish County
  • Norman
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman
    • Norman is located in Snohomish County
  • Silvana
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Skagit City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skagit City
    • Skagit City is located in Skagit County
  • Stanwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mount Vernon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Arlington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Trafton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trafton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trafton
    • Trafton is located in Snohomish County
  • Clear Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Avon ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Avon is located in Skagit County
    • Burlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Edgecomb
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgecomb have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgecomb
      • Edgecomb is located in Snohomish County

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

Newspapers Published in McMurray ...

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 86 newspapers that have been published in the area around McMurray.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McMurray, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McMurray.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 McMurray:

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

The official website for Skagit County: www.skagitcounty.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 McMurray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- McMurray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McMurray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3162, Longitude: -122.2354       In this case, the coordinates for McMurray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025