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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 Rena (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 Rena. 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 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.

Rena is located in Clallam County.

To see how the shape of Washington's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

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

  • Clallam County     (The home county of Rena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rena, with the one closest to Rena listed first.
    • Carlsborg
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Sequim
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • River Road
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • River Road is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
    • Old Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Old Town is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Bell Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bell Hill is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Hill
    • Port Williams
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Port Williams is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Williams
    • Little Oklahoma
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Oklahoma is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Oklahoma
    • Blyn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Blyn is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blyn
    • Port Angeles
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Elwha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Elwha is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwha
    • Joyce
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Port Crescent ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Port Crescent is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Crescent
  • Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rena, with the one closest to Rena listed first.
    • San de Fuca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • San de Fuca is located in Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San de Fuca
    • Coupeville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Greenbank
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Oak Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Freeland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rena, with the one closest to Rena listed first.
    • Gardiner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Adelma Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Adelma Beach is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelma Beach
    • Irondale ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Irondale is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
    • Port Hadlock - Irondale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Port Townsend
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Leland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Leland is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
    • Chimacum
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Port Hadlock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Marrowstone
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Nordland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Beaver Valley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Beaver Valley is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Valley
    • Quilcene
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • San Juan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rena, with the one closest to Rena listed first.
    • False Bay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Argyle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Argyle is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle

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

Cemeteries Near Rena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rena.

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

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

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

  • Sequim View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Jamestown Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Angeles Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Ocean View Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Laurel Grove Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Harling Point Chinese Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Quilcene Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Ross Bay Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Sound View Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Quadra Street Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Port Crescent Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Congregation Emanu-El Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • St. Mary's Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Mary's Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Mary's Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Metchosin (BC)
      • The St. Mary's Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Metchosin Pioneer Cemetery
      • St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church Cemetery
      • St. Mary The Virgin Church Yard Cemetery
      • St. Mary The Virgin Churchyard Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2459848 <2>
    • Veteran's Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rena had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Port Williams
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Port Williams is located in Clallam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Williams
  • Blyn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Blyn is located in Clallam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blyn
  • Port Angeles
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Port Discovery ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Port Discovery is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Discovery
  • Leland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Leland is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
  • Irondale ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Irondale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
  • Port Townsend
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Chimacum
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Quilcene
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • San de Fuca
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • San de Fuca is located in Island County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San de Fuca
  • Coupeville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Port Ludlow
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Port Crescent ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Port Crescent is located in Clallam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Crescent
    • Oak Harbor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Richardson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Richardson is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson

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

Newspapers Published in Rena ...

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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rena.

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

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 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 Rena:

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 Rena, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.