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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 Roche Harbor (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 Roche Harbor. 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 Roche Harbor ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Roche Harbor: Roche Hbr. (or less commonly used: Roche Harb. or Roche Hrbr.)

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Roche Harbor is located in San Juan 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 San Juan County: Island, Skagit & Whatcom.

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

  • San Juan County     (The home county of Roche Harbor)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roche Harbor, with the one closest to Roche Harbor listed first.
    • Deer Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Friday Harbor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Shaw Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Island
      • Shaw Island is located in San Juan County
    • Waldron
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
      • Waldron is located in San Juan County
    • Argyle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
      • Argyle is located in San Juan County
    • False Bay
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Orcas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Eastsound
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lopez
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez
      • Lopez is located in San Juan County
    • Lopez Island
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
      • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
    • Olga
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Decatur Island
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Skagit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roche Harbor, with the one closest to Roche Harbor listed first.
    • Urban
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
      • Urban is located in Skagit County
    • Indian Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
      • Indian Village is located in Skagit County
    • Alexander Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alexander Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Beach
      • Alexander Beach is located in Skagit County
    • Anacortes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Similk Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Similk Beach
      • Similk Beach is located in Skagit County
    • Snee Oosh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snee Oosh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snee Oosh
      • Snee Oosh is located in Skagit County
  • Whatcom County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Roche Harbor, with the one closest to Roche Harbor listed first.
    • Lummi Island
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Point Roberts
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Kickerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickerville
      • Kickerville is located in Whatcom County
    • Lummi
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
    • Birch Bay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chuckanut Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chuckanut Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
    • Ferndale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Roche Harbor ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Roche Harbor.

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

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 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 Roche Harbor:

Cemeteries Near Roche Harbor ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Roche Harbor.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Cemetery
  • Royal Oak Burial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lopez Union Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Holy Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Congregation Emanu-El Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pender Island Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Olga - Doe Bay Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • St. Stephen's Anglican Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Veteran's Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Quadra Street Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ross Bay Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Harling Point Chinese Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Colwood Pioneer Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hatley Memorial Gardens
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Galiano Island Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Galiano Island Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • The Galiano Island Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Galiano Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Galiano Island Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2491107 <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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Roche Harbor had a population of 247 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Friday Harbor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Argyle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Argyle is located in San Juan County
  • Waldron
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
    • Waldron is located in San Juan County
  • Orcas
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Eastsound
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lopez Island
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
    • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
  • Olga
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Richardson
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richardson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
    • Richardson is located in San Juan County
  • Doe Bay
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doe Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay
    • Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
  • Decatur Island
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Beach
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
    • Beach is located in Whatcom County
  • Guemes
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guemes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guemes
    • Guemes is located in Skagit County
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Anacortes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lummi
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
    • Mountain View
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
      • Mountain View is located in Whatcom County

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

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

The official website for San Juan County: www.co.san-juan.wa.us/

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

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 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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Roche Harbor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Roche Harbor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.6106, Longitude: -123.1476    
<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 Roche Harbor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024