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 Wenatchee (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 Wenatchee. 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 and hospitals 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.
Wenatchee is located in Chelan 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 Chelan County: Douglas, King, Kittitas, Okanogan, Skagit & Snohomish.
Below are the counties that are near Wenatchee. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wenatchee:
- Chelan County (The home county of Wenatchee)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wenatchee, with the one closest to Wenatchee listed first.
- Appleyard
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- West Wenatchee
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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
- Sunnyslope
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- 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
- Monitor
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Malaga
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cashmere
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dryden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Peshastin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Entiat
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Leavenworth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ardenvoir
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Plain
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wenatchee, with the one closest to Wenatchee listed first.
- East Wenatchee Bench
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- 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
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Rock Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Orondo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Palisades
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Waterville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Okanogan City ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Withrow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Grant County
- Quincy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kittitas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wenatchee, with the one closest to Wenatchee listed first.
- Liberty
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Thorp
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kittitas
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Teanaway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Teanaway. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teanaway
- Teanaway is located in Kittitas County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Teanaway
- From Wenatchee to Teanaway
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wenatchee, see our County-by-County Page for Wenatchee.
Cemeteries Near Wenatchee ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wenatchee.
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 Wenatchee covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wenatchee, with the one closest to Wenatchee listed first.
- Evergreen Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Memorial Park
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Wenatchee City Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hamilton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Cemetery
- 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.
- Valley View Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
- 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.
- Sunnyslope Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyslope Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyslope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Stemilt Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- South Side Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Side Cemetery
- 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.
- Cashmere Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cashmere Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cashmere Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Orondo Community Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Orondo Community Cemetery
- 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.
- Badger Mtn. Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Badger Mtn. Cemetery
- 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.
- Entiat Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Entiat Cemetery
- 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.
- Peshastin Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peshastin Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peshastin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Waterville Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Slack Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Slack Cemetery
- 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.
- Leavenworth Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leavenworth Cemetery
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leavenworth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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, Wenatchee had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Wenatchee had a population of 34,219 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wenatchee, with the one closest to Wenatchee listed first.
- Orondo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Peshastin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Waterville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Thorp
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wenatchee. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wenatchee.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wenatchee ...
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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wenatchee.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wenatchee. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wenatchee and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wenatchee.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Wenatchee.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Wenatchee:
- Websites specific to Washington
- Pages specific to Chelan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Douglas County
- Grant County
- Kittitas County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Washington
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Wenatchee: www.cityofwenatchee.com/
The official website for Chelan County: www.co.chelan.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
<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 Wenatchee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
<6> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wenatchee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wenatchee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.4251, Longitude: -120.3150 |