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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Alma. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Alma to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Alma, please Contact Us.

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 Alma (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 Alma. 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Alma is historic, it would have been located within present day Santa Cruz County.

To see how the shape of California's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Santa Cruz County: Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo & Santa Clara.

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

  • Santa Cruz County     (The home county of Alma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alma, with the one closest to Alma listed first.
    • Summit
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Summit has also been known as:
      • Loma Prieta
    • Laurel
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Glenwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • The Willows
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Lompico
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompico
      • Lompico is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Eccles ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Eccles. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eccles
      • Eccles is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Zayante
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
      • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Ben Lomond
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Boulder Creek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Scotts Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Felton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alma, with the one closest to Alma listed first.
    • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
      • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
      • Former name for Drawbridge:
      • Saline City
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albrae have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Larkins Landing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
    • Newark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fremont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234,569 people
      • Former names for Fremont:
      • Centerville
      • Irvington
      • Mission San Jose
      • Niles
      • Warm Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <3>
    • Alvarado ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alvarado. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Alameda County
    • Scotts Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corner
      • Scotts Corner is located in Alameda County
    • Sunol
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Union City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
      • Union City is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,501 people
      • Former name for Union City:
      • Decoto
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <3>
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alma, with the one closest to Alma listed first.
    • Pajaro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Las Lomas
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
    • Aromas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Elkhorn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Moss Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • San Benito County
    • River Oaks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alma, with the one closest to Alma listed first.
    • La Honda
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • Loma Mar
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Portola Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Searsville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsville
      • Searsville is located in San Mateo County
    • West Menlo Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • East Palo Alto
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Menlo Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • The Willows
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
    • Adobe Corner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adobe Corner
      • Adobe Corner is located in San Mateo County
    • Atherton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pescadero
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alma, with the one closest to Alma listed first.
    • Lexington ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
      • Lexington is located in Santa Clara County
    • Chemeketa Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemeketa Park
      • Chemeketa Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Redwood Estates
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Lexington Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holy City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Patchen
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Los Gatos
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Monte Sereno
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Saratoga
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cambrian Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambrian Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambrian Park
      • Cambrian Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Champagne Fountain
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champagne Fountain
      • Champagne Fountain is located in Santa Clara County
    • Campbell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Alma ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alma.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alma, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alma.

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 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 Alma:

Cemeteries Near Alma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alma.

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

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

  • Los Gatos Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Madronia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madronia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madronia Cemetery
  • Hidalgo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hidalgo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hidalgo Cemetery
  • Old Mexican Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Mexican Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Mexican Cemetery
  • Hacienda Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hacienda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hacienda Cemetery
  • Felton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Felton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Felton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Felton Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #274025 <6>
  • Oak Hill Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Memorial Park
  • Santa Clara Mission Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Mission City Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission City Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission City Memorial Park
  • Gates of Heaven Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gates of Heaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gates of Heaven Cemetery
  • Santa Cruz Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Oakwood Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...
    • Soquel Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Soquel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Soquel.
      • The Soquel Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Beit Olam Cemetery
      • Eternal Home Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soquel Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #999577 <6>
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Old Holy Cross Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)

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.

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

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

  • Patchen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
    • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
  • Los Gatos
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Laurel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
    • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Guadalupe ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
    • Guadalupe is located in Santa Clara County
  • Glenwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Saratoga
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Zayante
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
    • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Alamitos
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alamitos have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamitos
    • Alamitos is located in Santa Clara County
  • Campbell
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Boulder Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Ben Lomond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Greystone ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greystone have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
    • Greystone is located in Santa Clara County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • New Almaden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Felton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • San Jose
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Jose
      • San Jose is located in Santa Clara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013,616 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Jose <3>

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

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Alma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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- Alma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1853, Longitude: -121.9873       In this case, the coordinates for Alma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024