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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 Swofford (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 Swofford. 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 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.

Swofford is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, Wahkiakum & Yakima.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Swofford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swofford, with the one closest to Swofford listed first.
    • Ajlune
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Ajlune is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ajlune
    • Mossyrock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Morton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Wilson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Cinebar
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Glenoma
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Salkum
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Lacamas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Lacamas is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacamas
    • Ethel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Onalaska
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Mineral
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Randle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Cowlitz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swofford, with the one closest to Swofford listed first.
    • Toutle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Olequa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Olequa is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olequa
    • Castle Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swofford, with the one closest to Swofford listed first.
    • Alder
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Alder is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder
    • Elbe
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • La Grande
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ashford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Eatonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Clay City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Clay City is located in Pierce County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
    • McKenna
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Thurston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Swofford, with the one closest to Swofford listed first.
    • Bucoda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • McIntosh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • McIntosh is located in Thurston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
    • Rainier
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Swofford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Swofford.

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

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

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

  • Klickitat Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Shoestring Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Alpha Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Lone Hill Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Alder Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Tower Twp. Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Twp. Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tower Twp. Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<2> to the northeast of Castle Rock.
    • The Tower Twp. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2277304 <3>
  • Silver Lake Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Silver Lake Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the west of Toutle.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77049 <3>
  • Mashel Prairie Indian Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Rosin Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosin Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rosin Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> to the northeast of Castle Rock.
    • The Rosin Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosin Cemetery
    • Tower Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77025 <3>
  • Eatonville Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eatonville Cemetery
    • The Eatonville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Glacier Park Cemetery
    • Glacier View Cemetery
  • Rainier Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier Cemetery
    • The Rainier Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Indian Cemetery
    • Old Pioneer Cemetery
    • Rainer Free Cemetery
    • Stringtown Cemetery
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for IOOF Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the IOOF Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the east of Castle Rock.
      • The IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
      • IOOF Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76862 <3>
    • Greenwood Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Little Falls Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Swofford had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mossyrock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bremer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bremer is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bremer
  • Harmony
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Harmony is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
  • Morton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wilson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilson is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
  • Cinebar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Salkum
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Alpha
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Alpha is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpha
  • Ethel
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Toutle
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Sightly
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sightly is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sightly
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Vance
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Vance is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
    • Cowlitz
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Cowlitz is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowlitz
    • Toledo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Swofford ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Swofford.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Swofford, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Swofford.

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 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 Swofford:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Swofford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Swofford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.