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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 Meskill (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 Meskill. 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 southwest 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 south.

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 south 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.

Meskill is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, Wahkiakum & Yakima.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Meskill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Fayette
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Fayette is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Curtis
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Adna
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Doty
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Claquato
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Claquato is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
    • Pe Ell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chehalis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Newaukum
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Galvin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Fords Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
    • Centralia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Napavine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Saint Urban
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Saint Urban is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Urban
  • Cowlitz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Ryderwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Ryderwood is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryderwood
    • Olequa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
    • Castle Rock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bunker Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Oak Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Oak Point is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
    • Toutle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Grays Harbor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Chehalis Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
    • Oakville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cedarville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Porter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Malone - Porter
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
    • Malone
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Sine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
    • Elma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
    • Garden City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • McCleary
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Brady
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
    • Satsop
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
    • McCleary Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
  • Pacific County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Lebam
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Menlo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Menlo is located in Pacific County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
    • Raymond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • South Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Independence
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Rochester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Grand Mound
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
    • Bucoda
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Littlerock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Tenino
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • McIntosh
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • East Olympia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rainier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Tumwater
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kellys Korner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • Olympia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wahkiakum County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meskill, with the one closest to Meskill listed first.
    • Grays River
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Skamokawa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Meskill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meskill.

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

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

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

  • Sylvan Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Claquato Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Washington Lawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Snow Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Grand Mound Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Little Falls Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Forest Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sharon Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Lone Hill Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Fayette
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Fayette is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
  • Pe Ell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Boistfort
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Boistfort is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boistfort
  • Claquato
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Claquato is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
  • Newaukum
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
  • Chehalis
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Centralia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wildwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Wildwood is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
  • Napavine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Oakville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Grand Mound
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Rochester
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Winlock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedarville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Lebam
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Meskill ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meskill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Meskill, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Meskill.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Meskill:

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 Meskill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Meskill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.