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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 Sunrise (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 Sunrise. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Sunrise is located in Pierce 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 Pierce County: King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Thurston & Yakima.

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

  • Pierce County     (The home county of Sunrise)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunrise, with the one closest to Sunrise listed first.
    • Crystal Mountain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Longmire
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenwater
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Melmont ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Melmont is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melmont
    • Ashford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbonado
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilkeson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • South Prairie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Kapowsin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Prairie Ridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Prairie Ridge is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Ridge
    • Clay City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Clay City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
    • Elbe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • King County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunrise, with the one closest to Sunrise listed first.
    • Lester ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Lester is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
    • Enumclaw
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Osceola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Osceola is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • Krain
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Krain is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krain
    • Palmer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Palmer is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
    • Franklin ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Franklin is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Kanaskat
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Kanaskat is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanaskat
  • Kittitas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunrise, with the one closest to Sunrise listed first.
    • Cabin Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cabin Creek is located in Kittitas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin Creek
    • Martin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Martin is located in Kittitas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunrise, with the one closest to Sunrise listed first.
    • Packwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Cora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Cora is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
    • Mineral
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Randle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Yakima County

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

Cemeteries Near Sunrise ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunrise.

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

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Carbonado Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery
    • The Wilkeson Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church Cemetery
  • Wilkeson Town Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkeson Town Cemetery
    • The Wilkeson Town Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Knights of Pythias Cemetery
  • Buckley Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckley Cemetery
    • The Buckley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Buckley Public Cemetery
    • White River Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76722 <2>
  • Peterson Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Krain Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Enumclaw Municipal Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Soldiers Home Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soldiers Home Cemetery
    • The Soldiers Home Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Soldiers Home Cemetery
  • Eatonville Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eatonville Cemetery
    • The Eatonville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Glacier Park Cemetery
    • Glacier View Cemetery

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

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

  • Lester ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Lester is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
  • Carbonado
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilkeson
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Buckley
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Burnett
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Burnett is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnett
  • Enumclaw
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Boise
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Boise is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise
  • Cascade Junction
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cascade Junction is located in Pierce County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade Junction
  • Osceola
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Osceola is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
  • South Prairie
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cora
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cora is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
  • Veazie
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Veazie is located in King County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veazie
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Kapowsin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Palmer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Palmer is located in King County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer
    • Martin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Martin is located in Kittitas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin

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

Newspapers Published in Sunrise ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunrise.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunrise, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sunrise.

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 Sunrise:

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 Sunrise, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sunrise) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.