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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 Melbourne (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 Melbourne. 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.

Melbourne is located in Grays Harbor 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 Grays Harbor County: Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific & Thurston.

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

  • Grays Harbor County     (The home county of Melbourne)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melbourne, with the one closest to Melbourne listed first.
    • Montesano
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Central Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Central Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Park
      • Central Park is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Brady
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
      • Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Satsop
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Cosmopolis
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Junction City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Junction City is located in Grays Harbor County
    • South Aberdeen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Aberdeen
      • South Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Aberdeen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
      • Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,827 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aberdeen <1>
    • North Aberdeen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aberdeen
      • North Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Elma
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
    • Aberdeen Gardens
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aberdeen Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen Gardens
      • Aberdeen Gardens is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Hoquiam
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoquiam
      • Hoquiam is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,699 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoquiam <1>
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melbourne, with the one closest to Melbourne listed first.
    • Doty
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pe Ell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melbourne, with the one closest to Melbourne listed first.
    • Deckerville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deckerville
      • Deckerville is located in Mason County
    • Matlock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
      • Matlock is located in Mason County
    • New Kamilche
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Kamilche have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
    • Shelton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pacific County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melbourne, with the one closest to Melbourne listed first.
    • Raymond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • South Bend
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Menlo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
      • Menlo is located in Pacific County
    • Tokeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Lebam
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Bay Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melbourne, with the one closest to Melbourne listed first.
    • Independence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
    • Rochester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Littlerock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Grand Mound
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Melbourne ...

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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melbourne.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melbourne, 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 Melbourne.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Melbourne:

Cemeteries Near Melbourne ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melbourne.

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

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

  • Wynooche Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wynooche Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wynooche Cemetery
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
  • Elma Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elma Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elma Catholic Cemetery
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
  • Oddfellow Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oddfellow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oddfellow Cemetery
  • Sunset Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Memorial Park
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sharon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sharon Cemetery
  • Turnow Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turnow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turnow Cemetery
  • Washington Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washington Cemetery
  • McCleary Pythian Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCleary Pythian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCleary Pythian Cemetery
  • Giesy Family Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Giesy Family Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Menlo.
    • The Giesy Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Kiel Colony Cemetery
    • Willie Keil Gravesite
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Giesy Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #641574 <4>
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    • Fern Hill Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fern Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fern Hill Cemetery
    • Finnish Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finnish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finnish 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Melbourne had a population of 30 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Montesano
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Artic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Artic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artic
    • Artic is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Aberdeen Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aberdeen Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen Junction
    • Aberdeen Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Satsop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
    • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Cosmopolis
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • South Aberdeen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Aberdeen
    • South Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Aberdeen
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
    • Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,827 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aberdeen <1>
  • Elma
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
    • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
  • Hoquiam
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoquiam
    • Hoquiam is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,699 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoquiam <1>
  • Porter
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Cedarville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Markham
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Markham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markham
    • Markham is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Willapa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willapa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willapa
      • Willapa is located in Pacific County
    • Oakville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Ocosta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocosta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocosta
      • Ocosta is located in Grays Harbor County

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

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

The official website for Grays Harbor County: www.co.grays-harbor.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Melbourne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melbourne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.9472, Longitude: -123.6228    
<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 Melbourne, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024