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 Sunshine (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 Sunshine. 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 and 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.
Sunshine is located in Whitman 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 Whitman County: Benewah (ID), Latah (ID), Nez Perce (ID), Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln & Spokane.
Below are the counties that are near Sunshine. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sunshine:
- Whitman County (The home county of Sunshine)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Staley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Staley is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staley
- Pullman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Chambers
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Chambers is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers
- Albion
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Shawnee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Shawnee is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
- Colton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Uniontown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Palouse
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Leon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Leon is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Grinnell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Grinnell is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grinnell
- Glenwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Glenwood is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
- Colfax
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Almota
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Almota is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almota
- Asotin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Clarkston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Silcott
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Silcott is located in Asotin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silcott
- West Clarkston - Highland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Clarkston Heights - Vineland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Asotin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Garfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Mayview
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Mayview is located in Garfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayview
- Gould City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Gould City is located in Garfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould City
- Pataha
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pataha is located in Garfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pataha
- Pomeroy
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Benewah County (ID)
- De Smet
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- De Smet is located in Benewah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Smet
- Latah County (ID)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Moscow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Viola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Howell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Howell is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
- Lenville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lenville is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenville
- Genesee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Troy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Potlatch Junction
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Potlatch Junction is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potlatch Junction
- Potlatch
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Onaway
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Onaway is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onaway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
- Freeze
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Freeze is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeze
- Princeton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Cora
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Cora is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
- Juliaetta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nez Perce County (ID)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Leon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Leon is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Lewiston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- North Lapwai
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spalding
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cherrylane
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cherrylane is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrylane
- Lapwai
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lapwai is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapwai
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,152 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lapwai <1>
- Cameron
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Cameron is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
- Sweetwater
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sweetwater is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Lenore
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sunshine, see our County-by-County Page for Sunshine.
Cemeteries Near Sunshine ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunshine.
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 Sunshine - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sunshine covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Pullman City Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Farr Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Pitts Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Blaine Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Guy Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cordelia Lutheran Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Buchanan Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Genesee Valley Lutheran Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (58 more) ...
- Davis Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Beulah Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sunshine had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Pullman Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Pullman Junction is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pullman Junction
- Whelan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Whelan is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whelan
- Staley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Staley is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staley
- Moscow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Pullman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Johnson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Johnson is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Fallon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Fallon is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallon
- Viola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Colton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Cornwall
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Cornwall is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall
- Joel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Joel is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joel
- Shawnee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Shawnee is located in Whitman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Uniontown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Leon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Leon is located in Nez Perce County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Lenville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lenville is located in Latah County (ID)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sunshine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sunshine.
Newspapers Published in Sunshine ...
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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunshine.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunshine, 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 Sunshine.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Sunshine:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Whitman County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Asotin County
- Garfield County
- Benewah County
- Latah County
- Nez Perce County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Washington
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 Sunshine, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sunshine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |