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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 Rayville (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 Rayville. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Rayville is located in Grays Harbor County.

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 Grays Harbor County: Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific & Thurston.

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

  • Grays Harbor County     (The home county of Rayville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayville, with the one closest to Rayville listed first.
    • Garden City
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
    • McCleary
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sine
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
    • McCleary Junction
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Malone
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Elma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <2>
    • Malone - Porter
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Porter
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Satsop
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Brady
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
      • Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Cedarville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Oakville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Montesano
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayville, with the one closest to Rayville listed first.
    • Galvin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fords Prairie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fords Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
    • Doty
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Fayette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayette have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
      • Fayette is located in Lewis County
    • Centralia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayville, with the one closest to Rayville listed first.
    • New Kamilche
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Kamilche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
    • Matlock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
      • Matlock is located in Mason County
    • Deckerville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deckerville
      • Deckerville is located in Mason County
    • Shelton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bayshore
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
    • Mohrweis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohrweis
      • Mohrweis is located in Mason County
    • Skokomish
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skokomish
      • Skokomish is located in Mason County
    • Potlatch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Tahuya
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hoodsport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Grapeview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lilliwaup
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayville, with the one closest to Rayville listed first.
    • Herron Island
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Longbranch
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Anderson Island
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Island
      • Anderson Island is located in Pierce County
    • Home
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
      • Home is located in Pierce County
    • Lakebay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayville, with the one closest to Rayville listed first.
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
    • Littlerock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Independence
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
      • Independence is located in Thurston County
    • Rochester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Olympia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Tumwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Grand Mound
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • East Olympia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Lacey
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
      • Lacey is located in Thurston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <2>
    • Puget
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
      • Puget is located in Thurston County
    • Tanglewilde
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewilde
      • Tanglewilde is located in Thurston County
    • Tenino
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kellys Korner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County

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

Newspapers Published in Rayville ...

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 161 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rayville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rayville, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rayville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Rayville:

Cemeteries Near Rayville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rayville.

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

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

  • McCleary Pythian Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCleary Pythian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCleary Pythian Cemetery
  • Oddfellow Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oddfellow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oddfellow Cemetery
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
  • Elma Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elma Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elma Catholic Cemetery
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sharon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sharon Cemetery
  • Turnow Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turnow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turnow Cemetery
  • Squaxin Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Shelton Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shelton Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shelton Memorial Park
  • Wynooche Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wynooche Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wynooche Cemetery
  • Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
  • McLane Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the McLane Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • The McLane Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mud Bay Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McLane Cemetery
  • Miller Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miller Cemetery
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Oakland Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #865976 <4>
    • Union Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Mills & Mills Memorial Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mills & Mills Memorial Park is located outside and to the southwest of Tumwater.
      • The Mills & Mills Memorial Park has also been known as:
      • Olympic Memorial Garden Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mills & Mills Memorial Park
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76974 <4>

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.<6>

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

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

  • Elma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
    • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <2>
  • Porter
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Satsop
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
    • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
  • New Kamilche
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Kamilche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
  • Kamilche
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kamilche have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamilche
    • Kamilche is located in Mason County
  • Cedarville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Montesano
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Matlock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
    • Matlock is located in Mason County
  • Oakville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Melbourne
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne
    • Melbourne is located in Grays Harbor County
  • Shelton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Littlerock
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Belmore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belmore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmore
      • Belmore is located in Thurston County
    • Rochester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Tumwater
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)

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

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

The official website for Grays Harbor County: www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rayville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rayville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0443, Longitude: -123.3174       In this case, the coordinates for Rayville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>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 Rayville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024