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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 Rosario (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 Rosario. 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 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.

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

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

  • San Juan County     (The home county of Rosario)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rosario, with the one closest to Rosario listed first.
    • Olga
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastsound
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Orcas
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Harbor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Shaw Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Shaw Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Island
    • Waldron
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Waldron is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
    • Lopez
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Lopez is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez
    • Decatur Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Lopez Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
    • Friday Harbor
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Argyle is located in San Juan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Roche Harbor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rosario, with the one closest to Rosario listed first.
    • Oak Harbor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • San de Fuca
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • San de Fuca is located in Island County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San de Fuca
    • Coupeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Skagit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rosario, with the one closest to Rosario listed first.
    • Urban
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Urban is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urban
    • Indian Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Indian Village is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
    • Alexander Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Alexander Beach is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Beach
    • Anacortes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Similk Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Similk Beach is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Similk Beach
    • Edison
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Edison is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
    • Bay View
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bay View is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
    • Snee Oosh
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Snee Oosh is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snee Oosh
    • Bow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Swinomish Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Swinomish Village is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinomish Village
    • Alger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Alger is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
    • La Conner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Whatcom County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rosario, with the one closest to Rosario listed first.
    • Lummi Island
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lummi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi
    • Marietta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Marietta is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
    • Chuckanut Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
    • Ferndale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Kickerville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Kickerville is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kickerville
    • Birch Bay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Bellingham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Custer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Geneva
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
    • Silver Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Blaine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Rosario ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rosario.

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

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

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

  • Olga - Doe Bay Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Shaw Island Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lopez Union Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Eden Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lummi Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Grandview Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Bayview Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bayview Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Bellingham.
    • The Bayview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bay View Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76707 <2>
  • Sunnyland Memorial Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Greenacres Memorial Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Ferndale.
    • The Woodlawn Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Paradise Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77126 <2>
  • Continue List   (34 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 Rosario in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rosario.

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

  • Olga
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Eastsound
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Orcas
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Doe Bay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay
  • Waldron
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Waldron is located in San Juan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldron
  • Beach
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
  • Friday Harbor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lopez Island
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
  • Decatur Island
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Argyle
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Argyle is located in San Juan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
  • Roche Harbor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Richardson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Richardson is located in San Juan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Guemes
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Guemes is located in Skagit County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guemes
    • Anacortes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lummi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Lummi is located in Whatcom County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lummi

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

Newspapers Published in Rosario ...

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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rosario.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rosario, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rosario.

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 Rosario:

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 Rosario, 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- Rosario) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.