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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 Pleasant Valley (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 Pleasant Valley. 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 Pleasant Valley ...

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 Pleasant Valley: Pleasant Vly. (or less commonly used: Pleasant Vally. or Pleasant Vlly.)

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

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 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.

Pleasant Valley 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 Pleasant Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Pleasant Valley:

  • Whatcom County     (The home county of Pleasant Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Birch Bay
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Kickerville
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Kickerville is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickerville
    • Custer
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Blaine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Ferndale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lummi
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
    • Delta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Delta is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
    • Marietta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Marietta is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
    • Lynden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Lummi Island
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bellingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Everson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Point Roberts
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Eastsound
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Olga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Waldron
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Waldron is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
    • Deer Harbor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Orcas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Shaw Island
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Shaw Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Island
    • Decatur Island
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lopez
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lopez is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez
    • Roche Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lopez Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
    • Friday Harbor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle
      (30 miles [48.3 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 Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Urban
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Urban is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
    • Indian Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Indian Village is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Alger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Alger is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • Edison
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Edison is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
    • Anacortes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Bow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Alexander Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Alexander Beach is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Beach
    • Bay View
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bay View is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View

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

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Valley.

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 Pleasant Valley - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Hillsdale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Enterprise Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Haynie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Blaine Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 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>
  • Kulshan Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Greenacres Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • 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>
  • Hazelmere Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Lummi Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Berthusen Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lynden Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Monumenta Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (48 more) ...
    • Gardens of Gethsemani Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Beth Tikvah Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beth Tikvah Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Beth Tikvah Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<3> to the south of Surrey (BC).
      • The Beth Tikvah Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Beth Tikvah Jewish Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2443242 <2>
    • Sunnyside Lawn Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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 Pleasant Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Valley.

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

  • Birch Bay
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Custer
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Hillsdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hillsdale is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Mountain View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Mountain View is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Haynie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Haynie is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynie
  • Blaine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Semiahmoo ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Semiahmoo is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Semiahmoo
  • Lummi
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
  • Brennan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Brennan is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brennan
  • Marietta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Marietta is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
  • Delta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Delta is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Laurel
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Laurel is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Lynden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Beach is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
    • Bellingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Pleasant Valley ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Valley, 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 Pleasant Valley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Pleasant Valley:

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pleasant Valley) 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 Pleasant Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.