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

Rignall is located in Thurston 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 Thurston County: Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason & Pierce.

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

  • Thurston County     (The home county of Rignall)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Puget
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Puget is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
    • Olympia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Lacey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lacey is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <1>
    • Tumwater
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Tanglewilde
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Tanglewilde is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewilde
    • East Olympia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Kellys Korner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Kellys Korner is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellys Korner
    • Nisqually Indian Community
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Littlerock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Bordeaux ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
    • North Yelm
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • North Yelm is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Yelm
    • McIntosh
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
  • Grays Harbor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • McCleary
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • McCleary Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • McCleary Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCleary Junction
    • Sine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
    • Garden City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • Malone - Porter
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Malone - Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone - Porter
    • Malone
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Porter
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
    • Elma
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
    • Oakville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedarville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Chehalis Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Chehalis Village is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chehalis Village
    • Satsop
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
  • King County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Tahlequah
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Tahlequah is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahlequah
    • Magnolia Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia Beach is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
    • Milton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Buenna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Buenna is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buenna
    • Vashon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Federal Way
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Redondo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Redondo is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redondo
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Burley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Olalla
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Gorst
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Bethel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Holly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Holly is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
    • Crosby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Crosby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby
    • East Port Orchard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • East Port Orchard is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Port Orchard
    • Navy Yard City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Navy Yard City is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navy Yard City
    • Parkwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Parkwood is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Port Orchard
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bremerton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Colby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Fords Prairie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
    • Galvin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Bayshore
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Bayshore is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
    • New Kamilche
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
    • Shelton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Grapeview
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Allyn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Tahuya
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Union ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Skokomish
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Skokomish is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skokomish
    • Mohrweis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mohrweis is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohrweis
    • Potlatch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoodsport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Belfair
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rignall, with the one closest to Rignall listed first.
    • Herron Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Longbranch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lakebay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Anderson Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Anderson Island is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Island
    • Meridian
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Meridian is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Home
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Home is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
    • Gertrude
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Gertrude is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gertrude
    • DuPont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Vaughn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Vaughn is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughn
    • Steilacoom
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Fox Island
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Cromwell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cromwell is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell

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

Cemeteries Near Rignall ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rignall.

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

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

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

  • Miller Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Squaxin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • McLane Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLane Cemetery
    • The McLane Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mud Bay Cemetery
  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Longbranch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • German Lutheran Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Lutheran Cemetery
    • The German Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lakebay German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Old German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
  • Lakebay Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Anderson Island Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Shelton Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Union Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Mills & Mills Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills & Mills Memorial Park
    • 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 Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76974 <2>
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...

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

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

  • Puget
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Puget is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puget
  • Kamilche
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Kamilche is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamilche
  • New Kamilche
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • New Kamilche is located in Mason County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
  • Olympia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Longbranch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Lacey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lacey is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,178 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacey <1>
  • Lakebay
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Shelton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Tumwater
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Meridian
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Meridian is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Belmore
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Belmore is located in Thurston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmore
  • Vaughn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Vaughn is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughn
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Steilacoom
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Fox Island
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Union ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Mason County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

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

Newspapers Published in Rignall ...

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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rignall.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rignall, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rignall.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Rignall:

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 Rignall, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rignall) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.