RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Whatcom County >> Mirror Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Washington

The Commemorative Quarter for Washington





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 Mirror Lake (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 Mirror Lake. 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 Mirror Lake ...

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 Mirror Lake: Mirror Lk.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Mirror Lake is located in Whatcom 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 Whatcom County: Okanogan, San Juan & Skagit.

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

  • Whatcom County     (The home county of Mirror Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mirror Lake, with the one closest to Mirror Lake listed first.
    • Wickersham
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
      • Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
    • Saxon
      (Less than 2 miles 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
      • Saxon is located in Whatcom County
    • Acme
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Clipper
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
      • Clipper is located in Whatcom County
    • Sudden Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sudden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
      • Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
    • Geneva
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
      • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
    • Deming
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Silver Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Silver Beach. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
      • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Welcome
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Welcome. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
      • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
    • Bellingham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chuckanut Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chuckanut Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
    • Everson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Kendall
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kendall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
      • Kendall is located in Whatcom County
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mirror Lake, with the one closest to Mirror Lake listed first.
    • Olga
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Decatur Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Skagit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mirror Lake, with the one closest to Mirror Lake listed first.
    • Alger
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
      • Alger is located in Skagit County
    • Sedro - Woolley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Bow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lyman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Edison
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edison have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
      • Edison is located in Skagit County
    • Burlington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Clear Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Hamilton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
      • Big Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Mount Vernon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Bay View
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
      • Bay View is located in Skagit County
    • Montborne
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montborne
      • Montborne is located in Skagit County
    • Anacortes
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mirror Lake, with the one closest to Mirror Lake listed first.
    • Lake Ketchum
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Ketchum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ketchum
      • Lake Ketchum is located in Snohomish County
    • North Stanwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Stanwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stanwood
      • North Stanwood is located in Snohomish County
    • Bryant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
      • Bryant is located in Snohomish County
    • Stanwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Oso
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oso
      • Oso is located in Snohomish County
    • Florence
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
      • Florence is located in Snohomish County
    • Utsalady
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utsalady
      • Utsalady is located in Snohomish County

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

Cemeteries Near Mirror Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mirror Lake.

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

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

  • Saxon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Van Zandt Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Van Zandt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Van Zandt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Bow Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lyman Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Hills Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bayview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bayview Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bayview Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Bellingham.
    • The Bayview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bay View Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76707 <4>
  • Clear Lake Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunnyland Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyland Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyland Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bay View Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hawthorne Memorial Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Kendall Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kendall Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kendall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Mirror Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mirror Lake.

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

  • Wickersham
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • 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.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
    • Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
  • Saxon
    (Less than 2 miles 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.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
    • Saxon is located in Whatcom County
  • Acme
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Prairie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
    • Prairie is located in Skagit County
  • Alger
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alger have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Alger is located in Skagit County
  • Samish
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Samish have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samish
    • Samish is located in Skagit County
  • Geneva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
    • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
  • Deming
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Lyman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Silver Beach
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Silver Beach. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
  • Welcome
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Welcome. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
    • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
  • Chuckanut
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chuckanut have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut
    • Chuckanut is located in Whatcom County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Burlington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Clear Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
      • Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
    • Hamilton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Mirror Lake ...

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 121 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mirror Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mirror Lake, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mirror Lake.

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 Mirror Lake:

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

The official website for Whatcom County: www.co.whatcom.wa.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Mirror Lake, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mirror Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mirror Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6607, Longitude: -122.2118       In this case, the coordinates for Mirror Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025