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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 Old Tacoma (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 Old Tacoma. 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.

Old Tacoma is located in Pierce 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 Pierce County: King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Thurston & Yakima.

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

  • Pierce County     (The home county of Old Tacoma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Tacoma, with the one closest to Old Tacoma listed first.
    • Ruston
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Ruston is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
    • Tacoma
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dash Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Dash Point is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dash Point
    • Fircrest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Northeast Tacoma
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Northeast Tacoma is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northeast Tacoma
    • University Place
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fife
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Fife is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fife
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fife <1>
    • Gardenville ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Gardenville is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardenville
    • Gig Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Waller
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Waller is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
    • Artondale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Artondale is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
    • Cromwell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Cromwell is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
    • Fox Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • King County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Tacoma, with the one closest to Old Tacoma listed first.
    • Tahlequah
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Tahlequah is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahlequah
    • Buenna
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Buenna is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buenna
    • Milton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Magnolia Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Magnolia Beach is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
    • Federal Way
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Redondo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Redondo is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redondo
    • Woodmont Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodmont Beach is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmont Beach
    • Algona
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Pacific
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Star Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Star Lake is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Lake
    • Zenith
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Zenith is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenith
    • Auburn
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Des Moines
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Tacoma, with the one closest to Old Tacoma listed first.
    • Olalla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Burley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Southworth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Southworth is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southworth
    • Bethel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • South Colby
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • South Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Colby
    • Colby
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Colchester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Colchester is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colchester
    • Parkwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Parkwood is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • South Park Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • East Port Orchard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • East Port Orchard is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Port Orchard
    • Manchester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Retsil
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Retsil is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retsil
    • Port Orchard
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Tacoma, with the one closest to Old Tacoma listed first.
    • Grapeview
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Allyn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Belfair
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayshore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
    • Tahuya
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Union ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Union is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Shelton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Tacoma, with the one closest to Old Tacoma listed first.
    • Puget
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Puget is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
    • Nisqually Indian Community
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Tanglewilde
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Tanglewilde is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewilde
    • North Yelm
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • North Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Yelm
    • Yelm
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yelm <1>
    • Lacey
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Lacey is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <1>
    • Kellys Korner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • Olympia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • East Olympia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Tumwater
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Rainier
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Old Tacoma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Tacoma.

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 Old Tacoma - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Tacoma Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoma Cemetery
    • The Tacoma Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oaklawn Cemetery
    • Old Tacoma Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77080 <2>
  • Oakwood Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Hill Cemetery
    • The Oakwood Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oak Wood Cemetery
    • Oak Wood Hill Cemetery
    • Oakwood Cemetery
    • Prairie Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1996538 <2>
  • Pauper Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Puyallup Tribal Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puyallup Tribal Cemetery
    • The Puyallup Tribal Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cushman Cemetery
    • Indian Mission Cemetery
    • Puyallup Indian Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • New Tacoma Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Pioneer Cemetery
    • The Old Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rigney Cemetery
  • Mountain View Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Georges Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Byrd Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (104 more) ...
    • Penbrock Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Gig Harbor Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gig Harbor Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gig Harbor Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Gig Harbor.
      • The Gig Harbor Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Cresent Valley Cemetery
    • Haven of Rest Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven of Rest Cemetery
      • Former name for Haven of Rest Cemetery:
      • Perkins 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 Old Tacoma in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Old Tacoma.

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

  • Tacoma
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Excelsior
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Excelsior is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior
  • Wollochet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Wollochet is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wollochet
  • Fern Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Fern Hill is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Hill
  • Buenna
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Buenna is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buenna
  • Gig Harbor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Fox Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Midland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Midland is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
  • Artondale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Artondale is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
  • Lakeview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Lakeview is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Parkland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Maury
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Steilacoom
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lake City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
    • Rosedale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rosedale is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale

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

Newspapers Published in Old Tacoma ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Tacoma.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Old Tacoma, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Old Tacoma.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Old Tacoma:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Tacoma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Old Tacoma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.