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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 Atwater (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 Atwater. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Atwater is located in Merced 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 Merced County: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.

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

  • Merced County     (The home county of Atwater)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Fluhr
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fluhr
      • Fluhr is located in Merced County
    • Winton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • The Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
      • The Grove is located in Merced County
    • Cressey
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Arundel ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arundel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arundel
      • Arundel is located in Merced County
    • Amsterdam
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
      • Amsterdam is located in Merced County
    • Livingston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Merced
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ballico
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Delhi
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilmar
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Stevinson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Madera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Chowchilla
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Madera County
  • Mariposa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Hornitos
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Catheys Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Bear Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
      • Bear Valley is located in Mariposa County
  • Stanislaus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Denair
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Turlock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlock
      • Turlock is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,059 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turlock <1>
    • Hickman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Keyes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • La Grange
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Hughson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Newman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
      • Newman is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,702 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newman <1>
    • Ceres
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
      • Ceres is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,603 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceres <1>
    • Empire
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Crows Landing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Bret Harte
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
      • Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Atwater ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Atwater.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Atwater:

Cemeteries Near Atwater ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Atwater.

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

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

  • Winton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Winton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winton Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8453 <4>
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Merced.
    • The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    • Calvary Merced Cemetery District
    • Be careful not to confuse this cemetery with another one that is also named Calvary Cemetery (located 56 miles to the north).
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7873 <4>
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
  • Hopeton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopeton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopeton Cemetery
  • Ivett Ranch Family Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Snelling Pioneer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • North Hilmar Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • South Hilmar Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Hilmar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Hilmar Cemetery
  • Denair Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Turlock Memorial Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Helm - Turner Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Helm - Turner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Helm - Turner Cemetery
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Roberts Ferry Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roberts Ferry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roberts Ferry Cemetery
    • Pate Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pate Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pate Cemetery
    • Santa Cruz Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Cruz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Cruz 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Atwater had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Atwater had a population of 30,296 people.

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

  • Arena
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
    • Arena is located in Merced County
  • Livingston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Merced
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Hopeton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hopeton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeton
    • Hopeton is located in Merced County
  • Delhi
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Montpelier
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montpelier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montpelier
    • Montpelier is located in Stanislaus County
  • Snelling
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Turlock
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlock
    • Turlock is located in Stanislaus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,059 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turlock <1>
  • Athlone
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Athlone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athlone
    • Athlone is located in Merced County
  • Plainsburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsburg
    • Plainsburg is located in Merced County
  • Merced Falls
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merced Falls
    • Merced Falls is located in Merced County
  • Hickman
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Waterford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Keyes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gustine
      (22 miles [35.4 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 Atwater. See our List of 1890's Communities around Atwater.

The official website for Atwater: www.atwater.org/

The official website for Merced County: www.co.merced.ca.us/

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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Atwater) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Atwater. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3531, Longitude: -120.6077    
<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 Atwater, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024