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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 Valley View Tracts (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 Valley View Tracts. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Valley View Tracts is located in Cowlitz 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 Cowlitz County: Columbia (OR), Clark, Lewis, Skamania & Wahkiakum.

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

  • Cowlitz County     (The home county of Valley View Tracts)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Longview Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Longview Heights is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview Heights
    • West Longview
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • West Longview is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Longview
    • Coal Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Coal Creek is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Creek
    • Longview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ostrander
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Ostrander is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostrander
    • Kelso
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
    • Pleasant Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
    • Stella
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Stella is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
    • Castle Rock
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bunker Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Carrolls
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rose Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Rose Valley is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Valley
    • Oak Point
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Oak Point is located in Cowlitz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Woodland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Etna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Etna is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
    • La Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridgefield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fargher Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Fargher Lake is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargher Lake
    • Pioneer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Pioneer is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Vader
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Toledo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Winlock
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Saint Urban
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Saint Urban is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Urban
    • Ethel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Napavine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Wilson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Curtis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Onalaska
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Salkum
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Newaukum
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Newaukum is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newaukum
    • Lacamas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Lacamas is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacamas
    • Silver Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wahkiakum County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Eagle Cliff
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Eagle Cliff is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Cliff
    • East Cathlamet
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • East Cathlamet is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cathlamet
    • Cathlamet
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Skamokawa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Brookfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Brookfield is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
  • Clatsop County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Westport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Clifton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Clifton is located in Clatsop County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
    • Brownsmead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Brownsmead is located in Clatsop County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsmead
    • Jewell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jewell is located in Clatsop County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
  • Columbia County (OR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Valley View Tracts, with the one closest to Valley View Tracts listed first.
    • Rainier
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
    • Mayger
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Mayger is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
    • Beaver Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Beaver Springs is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Springs
    • Prescott
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Prescott is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Quincy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Quincy is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
    • Reuben
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Reuben is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
    • Goble
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
    • Clatskanie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Island
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Pittsburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pittsburg is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
    • Columbia City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Fishhawk ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fishhawk is located in Columbia County (OR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishhawk
    • Saint Helens
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Valley View Tracts ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Valley View Tracts.

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 Valley View Tracts - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Longview Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Solo Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Catlin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens is a very large cemetery that is located in Kelso.
    • The Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • IOOF Cemetery
    • Kelso IOOF Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #281134 <3>
  • Green Hills Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Stockport Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stockport Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stockport Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Pleasant Hill.
    • The Stockport Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #545650 <3>
  • Mayger Downing Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hudson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Green Mtn. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Smith - Tucker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodbine Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Dibblee House
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Castle Rock.
      • The Whittle & Hubbard Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hubbard Cemetery
      • Meadowview Cemetery
      • Whittle and Hubbard Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #77115 <3>
    • Jackson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Stella / Wiest Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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>

While we didn't find Valley View Tracts in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Valley View Tracts.

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

  • Lexington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lexington is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
  • Kelso
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Kelso is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelso
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,438 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kelso <1>
  • Rainier
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Rainier is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainier
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,021 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainier <1>
  • Stella
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Stella is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
  • Mayger
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Mayger is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayger
  • Castle Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Carrolls
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Oak Point is located in Cowlitz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Point
  • Apiary ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Apiary is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apiary
  • Clatskanie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Reuben
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Reuben is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
  • Goble
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Goble is located in Columbia County (OR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goble
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Eagle Cliff
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Eagle Cliff is located in Wahkiakum County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Cliff
    • Kalama
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Valley View Tracts ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Valley View Tracts.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Valley View Tracts, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Valley View Tracts.

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 Valley View Tracts:

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Valley View Tracts) 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 Valley View Tracts, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.