RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Thurston County >> Mima >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Mima (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 Mima. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Mima is located in Thurston 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 Thurston County: Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason & Pierce.

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

  • Thurston County     (The home county of Mima)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mima, with the one closest to Mima listed first.
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
    • Rochester
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Littlerock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Mound
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Independence
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
    • Tenino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Bucoda
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • East Olympia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tumwater
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • McIntosh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • Olympia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Kellys Korner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
  • Grays Harbor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mima, with the one closest to Mima listed first.
    • Chehalis Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
    • Oakville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Cedarville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Porter
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Malone - Porter
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
    • Malone
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
    • McCleary
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • McCleary Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
    • Elma
      (18 miles [29 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>
    • Satsop
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mima, with the one closest to Mima listed first.
    • Galvin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fords Prairie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
    • Centralia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Chehalis
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Claquato
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Claquato is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
    • Fayette
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Fayette is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
    • Adna
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Newaukum
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Doty
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Curtis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Napavine
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Pe Ell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mima, with the one closest to Mima listed first.
    • New Kamilche
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • Shelton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Bayshore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
    • Matlock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Matlock is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mima, with the one closest to Mima listed first.
    • Mock City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Mock City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock City
    • McKenna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • DuPont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Roy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Roy is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roy <1>
    • Anderson Island
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Anderson Island is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Island
    • Fort Lewis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Longbranch
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Meridian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Meridian is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Herron Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Tillicum
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Tillicum is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillicum
    • Gertrude
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Gertrude is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gertrude
    • Lakebay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Mima ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mima.

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

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

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

  • Grand Mound Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Finnish Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Forest Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Washington Lawn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mills & Mills Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills & Mills Memorial Park
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mills & Mills Memorial Park is located outside and to the southwest of Tumwater.
    • The Mills & Mills Memorial Park has also been known as:
    • Olympic Memorial Garden Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76974 <2>
  • McLane Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLane Cemetery
    • The McLane Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mud Bay Cemetery
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Claquato Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Rochester
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Littlerock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Grand Mound
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Oakville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Belmore
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Belmore is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmore
  • Bucoda
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Tenino
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Plumb
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Plumb is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumb
  • Cedarville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
  • Centralia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Tumwater
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Porter
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • McIntosh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • Chehalis
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Olympia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Mima ...

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 144 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mima.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mima, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mima.

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 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 Mima:

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 Mima, 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- Mima) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.