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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 West Seattle (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 West Seattle. 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.

Name Variations for West Seattle ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Seattle: W. Seattle

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

West Seattle is located in King 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 King County: Chelan, Kittitas, Pierce & Snohomish.

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

  • King County     (The home county of West Seattle)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Alki
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alki
      • Alki is located in King County
    • Seattle
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • White Center
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Center
      • White Center is located in King County
    • Van Asselt
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Asselt. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Asselt
      • Van Asselt is located in King County
    • Columbia City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia City
      • Columbia City is located in King County
    • Hillman City ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillman City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman City
      • Hillman City is located in King County
    • Seward Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward Park
      • Seward Park is located in King County
    • Fremont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fremont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in King County
    • Vashon Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vashon Heights
      • Vashon Heights is located in King County
    • Mercer Island Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mercer Island Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer Island Town
      • Mercer Island Town is located in King County
    • Riverton-Boulevard Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverton-Boulevard Park. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton-Boulevard Park
      • Riverton-Boulevard Park is located in King County
    • Burien
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Island County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Clinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bay View
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay View
      • Bay View is located in Island County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Brinnon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Port Ludlow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Quilcene
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Beaver Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Valley
      • Beaver Valley is located in Jefferson County
  • Kitsap County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Yeomalt
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeomalt
      • Yeomalt is located in Kitsap County
    • Southworth
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southworth
      • Southworth is located in Kitsap County
    • Fort Ward
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ward
      • Fort Ward is located in Kitsap County
    • Bainbridge Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge Island
      • Bainbridge Island is located in Kitsap County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,358 people
      • Bainbridge Island has also been known as:
      • Winslow
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bainbridge Island <1>
    • South Colby
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Colby
      • South Colby is located in Kitsap County
    • Colby
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
      • Colby is located in Kitsap County
    • Colchester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colchester
      • Colchester is located in Kitsap County
    • Manchester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Manitou Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manitou Beach
      • Manitou Beach is located in Kitsap County
    • Rolling Bay
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Bay
      • Rolling Bay is located in Kitsap County
    • South Park Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Parkwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
      • Parkwood is located in Kitsap County
  • Mason County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Belfair
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Allyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Grapeview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Dash Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dash Point
      • Dash Point is located in Pierce County
    • Wauna
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wauna
      • Wauna is located in Pierce County
    • Ruston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruston
      • Ruston is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 848 people
    • Gig Harbor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Northeast Tacoma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northeast Tacoma
      • Northeast Tacoma is located in Pierce County
    • Rosedale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
      • Rosedale is located in Pierce County
    • Artondale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Artondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artondale
      • Artondale is located in Pierce County
    • Edgewood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Gardenville ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardenville
      • Gardenville is located in Pierce County
    • Tacoma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Fife
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fife
      • Fife is located in Pierce County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fife <1>
    • Cromwell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
      • Cromwell is located in Pierce County
  • Snohomish County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Seattle, with the one closest to West Seattle listed first.
    • Brier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier
      • Brier is located in Snohomish County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,955 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brier <1>
    • Esperance
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esperance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esperance
      • Esperance is located in Snohomish County
    • Mountlake Terrace
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Woodway
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodway
      • Woodway is located in Snohomish County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,391 people
    • Edmonds
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Lynnwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Canyon Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon Park
      • Canyon Park is located in Snohomish County
    • Alderwood Manor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alderwood Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderwood Manor
      • Alderwood Manor is located in Snohomish County
    • North Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Creek
      • North Creek is located in Snohomish County
    • Martha Lake
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martha Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martha Lake
      • Martha Lake is located in Snohomish County
    • Picnic Point - North Lynnwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Maltby
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maltby
      • Maltby is located in Snohomish County

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

Cemeteries Near West Seattle ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Seattle.

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

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

  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Comet Lodge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Comet Lodge Cemetery
    • The Comet Lodge Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Georgetown Cemetery
    • Graham Street Burying Ground
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake View Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lake View Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Seattle.
    • The Lake View Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Masonic Cemetery
    • Seattle Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #76890 <4>
  • Gar Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gar Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Ft. Blakely Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Blakely Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Blakely Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Lawton Military Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Lawton Military Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Lawton Military Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Episcopal Church Of The Holy Spirit Memory Garden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Highview Recreational Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highview Recreational Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highview Recreational Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverton Crest Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverton Crest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverton Crest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (98 more) ...
    • Sedgwick Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Crown Hill Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crown Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crown Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Washington Memorial Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washington Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washington Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, West Seattle had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Van Asselt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Van Asselt. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Asselt
    • Van Asselt is located in King County
  • Seattle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fremont
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fremont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
    • Fremont is located in King County
  • Ross ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ross have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
    • Ross is located in King County
  • Duwamish
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duwamish have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duwamish
    • Duwamish is located in King County
  • Edgewater ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
    • Edgewater is located in King County
  • Port Blakely ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Blakely have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blakely
    • Port Blakely is located in Kitsap County
  • Ballard
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ballard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
    • Ballard is located in King County
  • Colby
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
    • Colby is located in Kitsap County
  • Sunnydale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnydale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnydale
    • Sunnydale is located in King County
  • Latona ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Latona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latona
    • Latona is located in King County
  • Ravenna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ravenna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenna
    • Ravenna is located in King County
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Vashon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Renton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • May Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May Creek
      • May Creek is located in King County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of West Seattle ...

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 676 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Seattle.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of West Seattle. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of West Seattle and those printed in the larger area surrounding West Seattle.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> of West Seattle.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 West Seattle:

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

The official website for King County: www.metrokc.gov/

The official website for State of Washington: https://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>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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Seattle) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Seattle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.5709, Longitude: -122.3865       In this case, the coordinates for West Seattle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 West Seattle, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025