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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 Okanogan (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 Okanogan. 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 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.

Okanogan is located in Okanogan County and is the County Seat.

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 Okanogan County: Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Lincoln, Skagit & Whatcom.

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

  • Okanogan County     (The home county of Okanogan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okanogan, with the one closest to Okanogan listed first.
    • Omak
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omak
      • Omak is located in Okanogan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,827 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Omak <1>
    • Malott
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • North Omak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Omak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Omak
      • North Omak is located in Okanogan County
    • Riverside
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Okanogan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 274 people
    • Ruby ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
      • Ruby is located in Okanogan County
    • Synarep
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Synarep
      • Synarep is located in Okanogan County
    • Conconully
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Monse
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monse
      • Monse is located in Okanogan County
    • Brewster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Virginia City ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
      • Virginia City is located in Okanogan County
    • Tonasket
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Twisp
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okanogan, with the one closest to Okanogan listed first.
    • Bridgeport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Osborne Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osborne Corner
      • Osborne Corner is located in Douglas County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Okanogan ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Okanogan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Okanogan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Okanogan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Okanogan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Okanogan.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Okanogan:

Cemeteries Near Okanogan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Okanogan.

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

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

  • Okanogan Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Okanogan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Okanogan Cemetery
  • Omak Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Omak Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Omak Memorial Cemetery
  • Okanogan Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Okanogan Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Okanogan Memorial Gardens
  • Clover Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clover Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clover Cemetery
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
  • Chiliwist Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chiliwist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chiliwist Cemetery
  • Ruby Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ruby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ruby Cemetery
  • Ft. Okanogan Memorial Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Okanogan Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Okanogan Memorial Cemetery
  • Tunk Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tunk Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tunk Valley Cemetery
  • Locust Grove Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Locust Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Locust Grove Cemetery
  • Indian Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
  • Beaver Creek Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Creek Cemetery
  • Methow Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Methow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Methow Cemetery
  • Sullivan Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sullivan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sullivan Cemetery

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.<4>

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

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

  • Malott
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Loop Loop ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loop Loop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loop Loop
    • Loop Loop is located in Okanogan County
  • Ruby ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
    • Ruby is located in Okanogan County
  • Ophir
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ophir have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophir
    • Ophir is located in Okanogan County
  • Conconully
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Thompson ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Thompson is located in Okanogan County
  • Winthrop
    (28 miles [45.1 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 Okanogan. See our List of 1890's Communities around Okanogan.

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

The official website for Okanogan County: www.okanogancounty.org/

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Okanogan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Okanogan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.3627, Longitude: -119.5822    
<4>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 Okanogan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024