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 Thornwood (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 Thornwood. 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 northeast 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 north.
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 north 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.
Thornwood is located in Skagit 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 Skagit County: Chelan, Island, Okanogan, San Juan, Snohomish & Whatcom.
Below are the counties that are near Thornwood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thornwood:
- Skagit County (The home county of Thornwood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Alger
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Alger is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
- Sedro - Woolley
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Bow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Clear Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
- Lyman
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Burlington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Edison
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Edison is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Hamilton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Big Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Big Lake is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
- Mount Vernon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Montborne
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Montborne is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montborne
- Bay View
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Bay View is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
- Island County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Juniper Beach
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Juniper Beach is located in Island County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Beach
- Oak Harbor
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- San Juan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Decatur Island
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Olga
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Lopez Island
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lopez Island is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopez Island
- Snohomish County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Lake Ketchum
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Lake Ketchum is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ketchum
- North Stanwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- North Stanwood is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stanwood
- Bryant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Bryant is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Stanwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Florence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Florence is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Oso
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oso is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oso
- Utsalady
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Utsalady is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utsalady
- Arlington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Silvana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Arlington Heights
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Arlington Heights is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington Heights
- Lakewood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Warm Beach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Warm Beach is located in Snohomish County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warm Beach
- Whatcom County
- The following are listed by their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Wickersham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
- Saxon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Saxon is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
- Acme
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sudden Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
- Clipper
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Clipper is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
- Geneva
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Geneva is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
- Chuckanut Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Chuckanut Village is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut Village
- Silver Beach
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
- Deming
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Bellingham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Welcome
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Welcome is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
- Marietta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Marietta is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thornwood, see our County-by-County Page for Thornwood.
Cemeteries Near Thornwood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thornwood.
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 Thornwood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thornwood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Green Hills Memorial Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clear Lake Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Saxon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bow Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Lyman Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hawthorne Memorial Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hamilton Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Mt. Vernon Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bay View Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Van Zandt Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Bayview Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- 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>
- Continue List (29 more) ...
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Sunnyland Memorial Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
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 Thornwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thornwood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thornwood, with the one closest to Thornwood listed first.
- Prairie
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Prairie is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
- Wickersham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Wickersham is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickersham
- Alger
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Alger is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alger
- Saxon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Saxon is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxon
- Burlington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Clear Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Clear Lake is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
- Lyman
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Acme
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Samish
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Samish is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samish
- Avon ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Avon is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Hamilton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mount Vernon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Big Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Big Lake is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Lake
- Chuckanut
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Chuckanut is located in Whatcom County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckanut
- Bay View
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Bay View is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thornwood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thornwood.
Newspapers Published in Thornwood ...
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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thornwood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thornwood, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thornwood.
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 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 Thornwood:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Skagit County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Island County
- San Juan County
- Snohomish County
- Whatcom 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 Thornwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thornwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |