RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Spokane County >> Parkwater >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Parkwater (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 Parkwater. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Parkwater is located in Spokane 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 Spokane County: Benewah (ID), Bonner (ID), Kootenai (ID), Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens & Whitman.

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

  • Spokane County     (The home county of Parkwater)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parkwater, with the one closest to Parkwater listed first.
    • Millwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Millwood is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,801 people
    • Hillyard
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hillyard is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillyard
    • Dishman
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Dishman is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dishman
    • Spokane
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Irwin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Irwin is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Opportunity
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Opportunity is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opportunity
    • Spokane Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Trentwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Trentwood is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trentwood
    • Town and Country
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Town and Country is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town and Country
    • Chester
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Chester is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Mead
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Country Homes
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Country Homes is located in Spokane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Homes
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parkwater, with the one closest to Parkwater listed first.
    • Reardan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Long Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Lake is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
  • Pend Oreille County
    • Camden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Camden is located in Pend Oreille County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden
  • Stevens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parkwater, with the one closest to Parkwater listed first.
    • Tumtum
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Tumtum is located in Stevens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumtum
    • Clavton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Clayton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Ford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Loon Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Whitman County
    • Rosalia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Bonner County (ID)
  • Kootenai County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parkwater, with the one closest to Parkwater listed first.
    • State Line Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • State Line Village is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line Village
    • State Line
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • State Line is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
    • Hauser
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hauser is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <1>
    • Post Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Coeur d'Alene Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Coeur d'Alene Junction is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coeur d'Alene Junction
    • Bellgrove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bellgrove is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellgrove
    • Huetter
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Huetter is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huetter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 114 people
    • Rathdrum
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Rathdrum is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathdrum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rathdrum <1>
    • Sturgeon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sturgeon is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgeon
    • Coeur d'Alene
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Hayden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Hayden is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hayden <1>
    • Echo Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Echo Beach is located in Kootenai County (ID)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Beach

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

Cemeteries Near Parkwater ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Parkwater.

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 Parkwater - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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

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

  • East Spokane
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • East Spokane is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Spokane
  • Spokane
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Chester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chester is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
  • Mead
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Peone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Peone is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peone
  • Marshall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Marshall is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
  • Mica
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mica is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mica
  • Buckeye
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Buckeye is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Freeman
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Freeman is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
  • Chattaroy
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Hauser
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hauser is located in Kootenai County (ID)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hauser
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hauser <1>
  • Hazard
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazard is located in Spokane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazard
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Medical Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cheney
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Spangle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Parkwater ...

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 122 newspapers that have been published in the area around Parkwater.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Parkwater, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Parkwater.

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 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 Parkwater:

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 Parkwater, 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' (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- Parkwater) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.