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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 Apple Valley (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 Apple Valley. 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 Apple Valley ...

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 Apple Valley: Apple Vly. (or less commonly used: Apple Vally. or Apple Vlly.)

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 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.

Apple Valley is located in San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino County: La Paz (AZ), Mohave (AZ), Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside & Clark (NV).

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

  • San Bernardino County     (The home county of Apple Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Apple Valley, with the one closest to Apple Valley listed first.
    • Victorville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Bell Mountain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Mountain
      • Bell Mountain is located in San Bernardino County
    • Hesperia
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
      • Hesperia is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96,911 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <1>
    • The Mesa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Mesa
      • The Mesa is located in San Bernardino County
    • Mountain View Acres
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Acres
      • Mountain View Acres is located in San Bernardino County
    • Mountain View
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
      • Mountain View is located in San Bernardino County
    • The Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
      • The Village is located in San Bernardino County
    • Oro Grande
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • South Adelanto
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Adelanto
      • South Adelanto is located in San Bernardino County
    • Adelanto
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelanto
      • Adelanto is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,537 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adelanto <1>
    • La Delta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Delta
      • La Delta is located in San Bernardino County
  • Los Angeles County
    • Big Pines
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Pines
      • Big Pines is located in Los Angeles County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Apple Valley ...

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 107 newspapers that have been published in the area around Apple Valley.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Apple Valley. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Apple Valley and those printed in the larger area surrounding Apple Valley.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Apple Valley.

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 Apple Valley:

Cemeteries Near Apple Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Apple Valley.

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

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

  • Sunset Hills Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Victor Valley Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Desert View Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Oro Grande Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • The Oro Grande Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lieutenant Manuel Rodriguez Memorial Park
    • Oro Grande Historic Memorial Park
    • Rodigues Cemetery
    • Rodriguez Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oro Grande Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2181852 <4>
  • Lucerne Valley Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • United Islamic Youth Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the United Islamic Youth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the United Islamic Youth Cemetery
  • Wilbur Grave
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilbur Grave have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilbur Grave
  • Indian Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
  • Campo Santo Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campo Santo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campo Santo Cemetery
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Home of Eternity Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Home of Eternity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Home of Eternity Cemetery
  • Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...

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>

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

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

  • Hesperia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
    • Hesperia is located in San Bernardino County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 96,911 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <1>
  • Oro Grande
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Cajon
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cajon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cajon
    • Cajon is located in San Bernardino County
  • Arrowhead Springs
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead Springs
    • Arrowhead Springs is located in San Bernardino County
  • Grapeland ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grapeland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapeland
    • Grapeland is located in San Bernardino County
  • San Bernardino
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Barstow
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barstow
    • Barstow is located in San Bernardino County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,581 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Barstow <1>
  • Rialto
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rialto
    • Rialto is located in San Bernardino County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 104,132 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rialto <1>
  • Victoria
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victoria have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
    • Victoria is located in San Bernardino County
  • Lugonia ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lugonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lugonia
    • Lugonia is located in San Bernardino County
  • Mentone
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

The official website for Apple Valley: www.applevalley.org/

The official website for San Bernardino County: www.sbcounty.gov/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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>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- Apple Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Apple Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5005, Longitude: -117.1902    
<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 Apple Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024