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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 Toppenish (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 Toppenish. 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 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 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.

Toppenish is located in Yakima 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 Yakima County: Benton, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Pierce & Skamania.

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

  • Yakima County     (The home county of Toppenish)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toppenish, with the one closest to Toppenish listed first.
    • Buena
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Zillah
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Granger
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wapato
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Outlook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Outlook
      • Outlook is located in Yakima County
    • Satus
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satus
      • Satus is located in Yakima County
    • Parker
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
      • Parker is located in Yakima County
    • Harrah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Moxee City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moxee City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moxee City
      • Moxee City is located in Yakima County
    • Moxee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Union Gap
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownstown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Benton County
    • Prosser
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Grant County
  • Kittitas County
    • Hillside Siding
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Siding
      • Hillside Siding is located in Kittitas County
  • Klickitat County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Toppenish, with the one closest to Toppenish listed first.
    • Bluelight
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluelight
      • Bluelight is located in Klickitat County
    • Bickleton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Cleveland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
      • Cleveland is located in Klickitat County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Toppenish ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Toppenish.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Toppenish. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Toppenish and those printed in the larger area surrounding Toppenish.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Toppenish.

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 Toppenish:

Cemeteries Near Toppenish ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Toppenish.

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

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

  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • McCoy Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Zillah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Smina Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smina Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smina Cemetery
  • Outlook Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Outlook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Outlook Cemetery
  • Holy Rosary Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Rosary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Rosary Cemetery
  • Meninik Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meninik Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meninik Cemetery
  • Holland Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holland Cemetery
  • Lower Valley Memorial Gardens
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower Valley Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Valley Memorial Gardens
  • Sunnyside Memorial Gardens
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyside Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyside Memorial Gardens
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Toweatmy Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Toweatmy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Toweatmy Cemetery
    • Terrace Heights Memorial Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Rock Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Rock 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Toppenish had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Toppenish had a population of 8,766 people.

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

  • Satus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satus
    • Satus is located in Yakima County
  • Parker
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
    • Parker is located in Yakima County
  • Moxee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Mabton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Yakima
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Ahtanum
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ahtanum
    • Ahtanum is located in Yakima County
  • Selah
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Byron
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron
    • Byron is located in Yakima County
  • Bickleton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Cowiche
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Roza
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roza have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roza
    • Roza is located in Kittitas County
  • Cleveland
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Cleveland is located in Klickitat County
  • Tampico
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampico
    • Tampico is located in Yakima County

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

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

The official website for Yakima County: www.pan.co.yakima.wa.us/

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Toppenish) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Toppenish. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3784, Longitude: -120.3121    
<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 Toppenish, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024