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The Commemorative Quarter for Washington





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 Waterville (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 Waterville. 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 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 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.

Waterville is located in Douglas County and is the County Seat.

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 Douglas County: Chelan, Grant, Kittitas, Lincoln & Okanogan.

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

  • Douglas County     (The home county of Waterville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
    • Okanogan City ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Okanogan City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okanogan City
      • Okanogan City is located in Douglas County
    • Orondo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Withrow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Withrow
      • Withrow is located in Douglas County
    • Beebe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beebe
      • Beebe is located in Douglas County
    • Palisades
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palisades
      • Palisades is located in Douglas County
    • East Wenatchee Bench
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Wenatchee Bench have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wenatchee Bench
      • East Wenatchee Bench is located in Douglas County
    • East Wenatchee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock Island
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Mansfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Bridgeport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Chelan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
    • Entiat
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chelan Falls
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Chelan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Ardenvoir
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Manson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Sunnyslope
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnyslope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyslope
      • Sunnyslope is located in Chelan County
    • Granite Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
      • Granite Falls is located in Chelan County
    • Malaga
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Monitor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wenatchee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • West Wenatchee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Wenatchee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wenatchee
      • West Wenatchee is located in Chelan County
    • Appleyard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleyard
      • Appleyard is located in Chelan County
  • Grant County
    • Quincy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Okanogan County
    • Pateros
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waterville ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waterville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Waterville:

Cemeteries Near Waterville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waterville.

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

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

  • Waterville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • The Waterville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fraternity Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waterville Cemetery
  • Badger Mtn. Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Badger Mtn. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Badger Mtn. Cemetery
  • Douglas Luthern Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Douglas Luthern Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Douglas Luthern Cemetery
  • Orondo Community Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Orondo Community Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Orondo Community Cemetery
  • Brays Landing Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brays Landing Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brays Landing Cemetery
  • Fletcher Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fletcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fletcher Cemetery
  • Slack Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Slack Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Slack Cemetery
  • South Side Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Side Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Side Cemetery
  • Entiat Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Entiat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Entiat Cemetery
  • Happy Home Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Happy Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Happy Home Cemetery
  • Evangelical Emanuel Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evangelical Emanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evangelical Emanuel Cemetery
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Chelan Fraternal Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chelan Fraternal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chelan Fraternal Cemetery
    • Valley View Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
    • Hamilton Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waterville had a population of 293 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Waterville had a population of 1,197 people.

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

  • Douglas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
    • Douglas is located in Douglas County
  • Orondo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Wenatchee
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Peshastin
    (25 miles [40.2 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 Waterville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Waterville.

The official website for Waterville: www.ci.waterville.wa.us/

The official website for Douglas County: www.douglascountywa.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Waterville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waterville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6474, Longitude: -120.0715    
<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 Waterville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024