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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 Neptune Beach (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 Neptune Beach. 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 Neptune Beach ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Neptune Beach: Neptune Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Neptune Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Neptune Beach.

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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Neptune Beach is located in Whatcom 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 Whatcom County: Okanogan, San Juan & Skagit.

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

  • Whatcom County     (The home county of Neptune Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Neptune Beach, with the one closest to Neptune Beach listed first.
    • Lummi
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
    • Kickerville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Kickerville is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickerville
    • Ferndale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Marietta
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Marietta is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
    • Lummi Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Birch Bay
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Custer
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bellingham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Blaine
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Chuckanut Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
    • Silver Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Delta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Delta is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Neptune Beach, with the one closest to Neptune Beach listed first.
    • Eastsound
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Olga
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Waldron
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Waldron is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
    • Deer Harbor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Orcas
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Shaw Island
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Shaw Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Island
    • Decatur Island
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lopez
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Lopez is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez
    • Lopez Island
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
    • Friday Harbor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Roche Harbor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Argyle is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
  • Skagit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Neptune Beach, with the one closest to Neptune Beach listed first.
    • Urban
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Urban is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
    • Indian Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Indian Village is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Anacortes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Alger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Alger is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Edison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Edison is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
    • Bow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alexander Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Alexander Beach is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Beach
    • Bay View
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bay View is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
    • Similk Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Similk Beach is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Similk Beach
    • Snee Oosh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Snee Oosh is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snee Oosh
    • Swinomish Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Swinomish Village is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinomish Village
    • Burlington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Neptune Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Neptune Beach.

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 Neptune Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Lummi Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Enterprise Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenacres Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Ferndale.
    • The Woodlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Paradise Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77126 <2>
  • Hillsdale Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Haynie Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Kulshan Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Sunnyland Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Blaine Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Blaine Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Blaine.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76716 <2>
  • Bayview Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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 <2>
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lynden Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...

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

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

  • Mountain View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Lummi
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
  • Beach
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
  • Marietta
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Marietta is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
  • Brennan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Brennan is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brennan
  • Birch Bay
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Custer
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Laurel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Laurel is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
  • Haynie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Haynie is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynie
  • Hillsdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hillsdale is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Fairhaven
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairhaven is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Bellingham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Eastsound
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Semiahmoo ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Semiahmoo is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semiahmoo
    • Doe Bay
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay

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

Newspapers Published in Neptune Beach ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Neptune Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Neptune Beach, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Neptune Beach.

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 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 Neptune Beach:

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 Neptune Beach, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Neptune Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.