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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 El Portal (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 El Portal. 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 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 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.

El Portal is located in Mariposa 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 Mariposa County: Madera, Merced, Mono, Stanislaus & Tuolumne.

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

  • Mariposa County     (The home county of El Portal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Portal, with the one closest to El Portal listed first.
    • Yosemite West
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite West
      • Yosemite West is located in Mariposa County
    • Jerseydale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerseydale
      • Jerseydale is located in Mariposa County
    • Yosemite Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Valley
      • Yosemite Valley is located in Mariposa County
    • Yosemite Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Village
      • Yosemite Village is located in Mariposa County
    • Darrah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darrah
      • Darrah is located in Mariposa County
    • Wawona
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Midpines
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Curry Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Curry Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Village
      • Curry Village is located in Mariposa County
    • Bootjack
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootjack
      • Bootjack is located in Mariposa County
    • Fish Camp
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mariposa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Bullion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Bullion
      • Mount Bullion is located in Mariposa County
  • Madera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Portal, with the one closest to El Portal listed first.
    • Nipinnawasee ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nipinnawasee
      • Nipinnawasee is located in Madera County
    • Ahwahnee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Yosemite Forks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Forks
      • Yosemite Forks is located in Madera County
    • Oakhurst
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bass Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • The Pines
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Pines
      • The Pines is located in Madera County
    • Coarsegold
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wishon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishon
      • Wishon is located in Madera County
  • Tuolumne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Portal, with the one closest to El Portal listed first.
    • Mather
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mather have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mather
      • Mather is located in Tuolumne County
    • Groveland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Oak Flat
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Moccasin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in El Portal ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Portal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of El Portal, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for El Portal.

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 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 El Portal:

Cemeteries Near El Portal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El Portal.

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

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

  • Mariposa Masonic Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mariposa Masonic Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Mariposa.
    • The Mariposa Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mariposa Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2205021 <4>
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
  • Coulterville Public Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Catheys Valley Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catheys Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catheys Valley Cemetery
  • Oakhill Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • White Rock Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Rock Cemetery
  • Santa Cruz Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
  • Granite Spring Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Granite Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Granite Spring Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7995 <4>
  • Sturdevant Ranch Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Sturdevant Ranch Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sturdevant Ranch Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2528702 <4>

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>

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

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

  • Jerseydale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerseydale
    • Jerseydale is located in Mariposa County
  • Sequoia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sequoia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sequoia
    • Sequoia is located in Tuolumne County
  • Wawona
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Mariposa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mount Bullion
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Bullion
    • Mount Bullion is located in Mariposa County
  • Bear Valley
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
    • Bear Valley is located in Mariposa County
  • Coulterville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Ben Hur
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ben Hur have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Hur
    • Ben Hur is located in Mariposa County
  • Grub Gulch ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grub Gulch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grub Gulch
    • Grub Gulch is located in Madera County
  • Groveland
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hornitos
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Big Oak Flat
    (27 miles [43.5 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 El Portal. See our List of 1890's Communities around El Portal.

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

The official website for Mariposa County: www.mariposacounty.org/

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- El Portal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in El Portal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6755, Longitude: -119.7825    
<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>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.
<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 El Portal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024