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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 Palmer Junction (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 Palmer Junction. 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 Palmer Junction ...

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 Palmer Junction: Palmer Jct. (or less commonly used: Palmer Jctn.)

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

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

Palmer Junction is located in King 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 King County: Chelan, Kittitas, Pierce & Snohomish.

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

  • King County     (The home county of Palmer Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer Junction, with the one closest to Palmer Junction listed first.
    • Kanaskat
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Kanaskat is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanaskat
    • Palmer
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Palmer is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
    • Kangley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Kangley is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kangley
    • Franklin ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Franklin is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Trude
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Trude is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trude
    • Landsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Landsburg is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landsburg
    • Ravensdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ravensdale is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravensdale
    • Black Diamond
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Krain
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Krain is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krain
    • Danville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Danville is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Maple Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • One Hundred One Pines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Enumclaw
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Kittitas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer Junction, with the one closest to Palmer Junction listed first.
    • Snoqualmie Pass
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Martin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Martin is located in Kittitas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Palmer Junction, with the one closest to Palmer Junction listed first.
    • Buckley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Tapps
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Lake Tapps is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps
    • Greenwater
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • South Prairie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bonney Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilkeson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbonado
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Prairie Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Prairie Ridge is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Ridge
    • Sumner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Alderton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Alderton is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderton
    • Edgewood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • North Puyallup
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • North Puyallup is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Puyallup
    • McMillin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • McMillin is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMillin

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

Cemeteries Near Palmer Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Palmer Junction.

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 Palmer Junction - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Franklin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ravensdale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Black Diamond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Krain Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Enumclaw Municipal Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery
    • The Hobart - Maple Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Maple Valley Hobart Cemetery
  • Buckley Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckley Cemetery
    • The Buckley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Buckley Public Cemetery
    • White River Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76722 <2>
  • Tahoma National Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoma National Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tahoma National Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<3> to the east of Kent.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #109448 <2>
  • Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery
    • The Lake Tapps Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Dieringer Cemetery
    • Dieringer Pioneer Cemetery
  • Suise Creek Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • White Lake Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (46 more) ...
    • Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
      • The Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church Cemetery
    • Wilkeson Town Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Town Cemetery
      • The Wilkeson Town Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Knights of Pythias Cemetery
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Palmer
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Palmer is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
  • Franklin ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Kangley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Kangley is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kangley
  • Veazie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Veazie is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veazie
  • Black Diamond
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Summit
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Summit is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
  • Maple Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Enumclaw
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Green River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Green River is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
  • Osceola
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Osceola is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
  • Boise
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Boise is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise
  • Covington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Buckley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Mountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Mountain is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mountain
    • North Bend
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Palmer Junction ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Palmer Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Palmer Junction, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Palmer Junction.

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 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 Palmer Junction:

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Palmer Junction) 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 Palmer Junction, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.