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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Riffe. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Riffe to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Riffe, please Contact Us.

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 Riffe (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 Riffe. 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Riffe is historic, it would have been located within present day Lewis 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 Lewis County: Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, Wahkiakum & Yakima.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Riffe)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riffe, with the one closest to Riffe listed first.
    • Ajlune
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ajlune have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ajlune
      • Ajlune is located in Lewis County
    • Morton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mossyrock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Cinebar
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Glenoma
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Silver Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Salkum
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lacamas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacamas
      • Lacamas is located in Lewis County
    • Mineral
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ethel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Onalaska
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Randle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Cowlitz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riffe, with the one closest to Riffe listed first.
    • Toutle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Olequa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olequa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
      • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
    • Castle Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riffe, with the one closest to Riffe listed first.
    • Elbe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Alder
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alder have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
      • Alder is located in Pierce County
    • La Grande
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ashford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Eatonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Clay City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clay City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
      • Clay City is located in Pierce County
    • McKenna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riffe, with the one closest to Riffe listed first.
    • Rainier
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bucoda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • McIntosh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County

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

Newspapers Published in Riffe ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riffe.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riffe, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riffe.

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 Riffe:

Cemeteries Near Riffe ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riffe.

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

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

  • Klickitat Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Klickitat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Klickitat Cemetery
  • Shoestring Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shoestring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shoestring Cemetery
  • Alpha Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alpha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alpha Cemetery
  • Lone Hill Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Hill Cemetery
  • Alder Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Tower Twp. Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Tower Twp. Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tower Twp. Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<4> to the southwest of Castle Rock.
    • The Tower Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tower Twp. Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2277304 <6>
  • Silver Lake Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Mashel Prairie Indian Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Eatonville Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • The Eatonville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Glacier Park Cemetery
    • Glacier View Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eatonville Cemetery
  • Rainier Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • The Rainier Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Indian Cemetery
    • Old Pioneer Cemetery
    • Rainer Free Cemetery
    • Stringtown Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rainier Cemetery
  • Rosin Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rosin Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the southwest of Castle Rock.
    • The Rosin Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosin Cemetery
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosin Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77025 <6>
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Fern Hill Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fern Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fern Hill Cemetery
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the IOOF Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the west of Castle Rock.
      • The IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
      • IOOF Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76862 <6>
    • Yelm Rainier Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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.

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

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

  • Swofford
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swofford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swofford
    • Swofford is located in Lewis County
  • Bremer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bremer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremer
    • Bremer is located in Lewis County
  • Morton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mossyrock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Harmony
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
    • Harmony is located in Lewis County
  • Wilson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Wilson is located in Lewis County
  • Cinebar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Salkum
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Alpha
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpha have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
    • Alpha is located in Lewis County
  • Ethel
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Vance
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
    • Vance is located in Lewis County
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Toutle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sightly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sightly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sightly
      • Sightly is located in Cowlitz County
    • Cowlitz
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cowlitz have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowlitz
      • Cowlitz is located in Lewis County

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

The official website for Lewis County: www.co.lewis.wa.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Riffe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Riffe) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riffe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.5140, Longitude: -122.3704       In this case, the coordinates for Riffe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024