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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 Mercer Island Town (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 Mercer Island Town. 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.

Name Variations for Mercer Island Town ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Mercer Island Town: Mercer Is. Town (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 hospitals 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.

Mercer Island Town is located in King 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 King County: Chelan, Kittitas, Pierce & Snohomish.

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

  • King County     (The home county of Mercer Island Town)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Beaux Arts Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaux Arts Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaux Arts Village
      • Beaux Arts Village is located in King County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
    • Mercer Island
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer Island
      • Mercer Island is located in King County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,912 people
    • Medina
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medina
      • Medina is located in King County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,308 people
    • Columbia City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia City
      • Columbia City is located in King County
    • Hillman City ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillman City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman City
      • Hillman City is located in King County
    • Seward Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward Park
      • Seward Park is located in King County
    • Norwood Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood Village
      • Norwood Village is located in King County
    • Clyde Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde Hill
      • Clyde Hill is located in King County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,398 people
    • Bellevue
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastgate
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eastgate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastgate
      • Eastgate is located in King County
    • Hunts Point
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Point
      • Hunts Point is located in King County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
    • Newcastle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Newport Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Hills
      • Newport Hills is located in King County
  • Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Clinton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bay View
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
      • Bay View is located in Island County
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Fort Ward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ward
      • Fort Ward is located in Kitsap County
    • Yeomalt
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeomalt
      • Yeomalt is located in Kitsap County
    • Rolling Bay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Bay
      • Rolling Bay is located in Kitsap County
    • Southworth
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southworth
      • Southworth is located in Kitsap County
    • Bainbridge Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge Island
      • Bainbridge Island is located in Kitsap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,358 people
      • Bainbridge Island has also been known as:
      • Winslow
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bainbridge Island <2>
    • Manitou Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manitou Beach
      • Manitou Beach is located in Kitsap County
    • Colby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
    • Colchester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colchester
      • Colchester is located in Kitsap County
    • Manchester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • South Colby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Colby
      • South Colby is located in Kitsap County
    • Port Madison
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Port Madison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Madison
      • Port Madison is located in Kitsap County
    • South Park Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Indianola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Belfair
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Allyn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Dash Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dash Point
      • Dash Point is located in Pierce County
    • Northeast Tacoma
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northeast Tacoma
      • Northeast Tacoma is located in Pierce County
    • Edgewood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Lake Tapps
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps
      • Lake Tapps is located in Pierce County
    • Gig Harbor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Ruston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruston
      • Ruston is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
    • Wauna
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauna
      • Wauna is located in Pierce County
    • Fife
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fife
      • Fife is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fife <2>
    • Gardenville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardenville
      • Gardenville is located in Pierce County
    • Tacoma
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Firwood ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Firwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Firwood
      • Firwood is located in Pierce County
    • Rosedale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
      • Rosedale is located in Pierce County
    • Artondale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Artondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
      • Artondale is located in Pierce County
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mercer Island Town, with the one closest to Mercer Island Town listed first.
    • Brier
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier
      • Brier is located in Snohomish County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brier <2>
    • Canyon Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon Park
      • Canyon Park is located in Snohomish County
    • Mountlake Terrace
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Esperance
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esperance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esperance
      • Esperance is located in Snohomish County
    • Alderwood Manor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alderwood Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderwood Manor
      • Alderwood Manor is located in Snohomish County
    • Edmonds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lynnwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Maltby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maltby
      • Maltby is located in Snohomish County
    • North Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Creek
      • North Creek is located in Snohomish County
    • Echo Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Lake
      • Echo Lake is located in Snohomish County
    • Woodway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodway have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodway
      • Woodway is located in Snohomish County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,391 people
    • Clearview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
      • Clearview is located in Snohomish County
    • Martha Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martha Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martha Lake
      • Martha Lake is located in Snohomish County

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

Cemeteries Near Mercer Island Town ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mercer Island Town.

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 Mercer Island Town covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Comet Lodge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Comet Lodge Cemetery
    • The Comet Lodge Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Georgetown Cemetery
    • Graham Street Burying Ground
  • Sunset Hills Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunset Hills Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunset Hills Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gar Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake View Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lake View Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Seattle.
    • The Lake View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Masonic Cemetery
    • Seattle Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76890 <4>
  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Everest Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Everest Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Everest Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highview Recreational Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highview Recreational Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highview Recreational Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverton Crest Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverton Crest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverton Crest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (88 more) ...
    • Kirkland Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Eastside Memorial Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eastside Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eastside Memorial Park 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>

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

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

  • Van Asselt
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Asselt. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Asselt
    • Van Asselt is located in King County
  • May Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Creek
    • May Creek is located in King County
  • Newcastle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Seattle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Duwamish
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duwamish have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duwamish
    • Duwamish is located in King County
  • Houghton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Houghton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houghton
    • Houghton is located in King County
  • Pontiac
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pontiac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
    • Pontiac is located in King County
  • Renton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Coal Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
    • Coal Creek is located in King County
  • Ravenna
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ravenna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenna
    • Ravenna is located in King County
  • Kirkland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Edgewater ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
    • Edgewater is located in King County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Fremont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fremont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in King County
    • West Seattle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Seattle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Seattle
      • West Seattle is located in King County
    • Latona ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latona have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latona
      • Latona is located in King County

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

Newspapers Published in Mercer Island Town ...

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 638 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mercer Island Town.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mercer Island Town, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mercer Island Town.

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 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 Mercer Island Town:

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

The official website for King County: www.metrokc.gov/

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 Mercer Island Town, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mercer Island Town) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mercer Island Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5843, Longitude: -122.2429       In this case, the coordinates for Mercer Island Town have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025