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 Vesta (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 Vesta. 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.
Vesta is located in Grays Harbor 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 Grays Harbor County: Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific & Thurston.
Below are the counties that are near Vesta. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vesta:
- Grays Harbor County (The home county of Vesta)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Melbourne
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Melbourne is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne
- Montesano
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Central Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Central Park is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Park
- Brady
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
- Satsop
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
- Cosmopolis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Junction City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Junction City is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- South Aberdeen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- South Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Aberdeen
- Cedarville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Elma
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
- Aberdeen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Aberdeen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Aberdeen
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Doty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pe Ell
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fayette
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fayette is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
- Galvin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Adna
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Curtis
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fords Prairie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Fords Prairie is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Prairie
- Claquato
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Claquato is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claquato
- Mason County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Deckerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Deckerville is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deckerville
- Matlock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Matlock is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matlock
- New Kamilche
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Kamilche is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Kamilche
- Pacific County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Raymond
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Menlo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Menlo is located in Pacific County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
- South Bend
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lebam
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Tokeland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bay Center
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Oysterville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Thurston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Independence
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Independence is located in Thurston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Bordeaux ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Bordeaux is located in Thurston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bordeaux
- Rochester
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Grand Mound
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Littlerock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vesta, see our County-by-County Page for Vesta.
Cemeteries Near Vesta ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vesta.
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 Vesta - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vesta covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Wynooche Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Washington Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Giesy Family Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giesy Family Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Giesy Family Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of Menlo.
- The Giesy Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Kiel Colony Cemetery
- Willie Keil Gravesite
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #641574 <3>
- Masonic Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Elma Catholic Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Fern Hill Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Sharon Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fern Hill Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Oddfellow Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Oakville Pioneer Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Sunset Memorial Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (9 more) ...
- Sylvan Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Finnish Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- McCleary Pythian Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
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 Vesta in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Vesta.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vesta, with the one closest to Vesta listed first.
- Artic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Artic is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artic
- Melbourne
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Melbourne is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne
- Montesano
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Willapa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Willapa is located in Pacific County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willapa
- Satsop
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Satsop is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsop
- Aberdeen Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Aberdeen Junction is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen Junction
- Cosmopolis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- South Aberdeen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- South Aberdeen is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Aberdeen
- Cedarville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Elma
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elma is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elma <1>
- Aberdeen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- South Bend
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Porter
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Porter is located in Grays Harbor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- Oakville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Hoquiam
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vesta. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vesta.
Newspapers Published in Vesta ...
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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vesta.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vesta, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vesta.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Vesta:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Grays Harbor County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Lewis County
- Mason County
- Pacific County
- Thurston 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Vesta) 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 Vesta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |