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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 Similk Beach (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 Similk Beach. 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 Similk Beach ...

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 Similk Beach: Similk Bch.

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 doctors 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.

Similk Beach is located in Skagit 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 Skagit County: Chelan, Island, Okanogan, San Juan, Snohomish & Whatcom.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Similk Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Similk Beach.

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

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

  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fern Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fern Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grandview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grandview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grandview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bay View Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eden Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Leaf Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Bow Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hawthorne Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hawthorne Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hawthorne Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Skagit City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skagit City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skagit City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Hills Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Camano Lutheran Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camano Island Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Scandinavian Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clear Lake Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Lake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

  • Gibraltar
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibraltar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibraltar
    • Gibraltar is located in Skagit County
  • Anacortes
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Whitney
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney
    • Whitney is located in Skagit County
  • La Conner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bay View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
    • Bay View is located in Skagit County
  • Guemes
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guemes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guemes
    • Guemes is located in Skagit County
  • Fredonia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fredonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Fredonia is located in Skagit County
  • Avon ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
    • Avon is located in Skagit County
  • Oak Harbor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Skagit City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Vernon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Burlington
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Similk Beach ...

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 Similk Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Similk Beach, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Similk Beach.

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 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 Similk Beach:

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

The official website for Skagit County: www.skagitcounty.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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 Similk Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Similk Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Similk Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.4485, Longitude: -122.5781    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 17 Jul 2025