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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 Fresno (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 Fresno. 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.

A Few Details for Fresno ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Fresno was established in 1872.
  • It was incorporated on October 12, 1885.

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.

Fresno is located in Fresno County and is the County Seat.

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 Fresno County: Inyo, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito & Tulare.

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

  • Fresno County     (The home county of Fresno)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fresno, with the one closest to Fresno listed first.
    • Tarpey Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tarpey Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpey Village
      • Tarpey Village is located in Fresno County
    • Clovis
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinedale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Calwa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calwa
      • Calwa is located in Fresno County
    • Muscatel
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
      • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Highway City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highway City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway City
      • Highway City is located in Fresno County
    • Gordon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
    • Malaga
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malaga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
      • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Lone Star
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
      • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • West Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pratton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pratton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratton
      • Pratton is located in Fresno County
    • Easton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Herndon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
      • Herndon is located in Fresno County
  • Kings County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fresno, with the one closest to Fresno listed first.
    • Hardwick
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
    • Hub
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hub have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
      • Hub is located in Kings County
  • Madera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fresno, with the one closest to Fresno listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millerton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Parksdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
    • Parkwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
    • Madera
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • La Vina
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
    • O'Neals
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Madera Acres
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madera Acres
      • Madera Acres is located in Madera County
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Lakes Park
      • Yosemite Lakes Park is located in Madera County
      • Yosemite Lakes Park has also been known as:
      • Yosemite Lakes
    • Berenda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berenda
      • Berenda is located in Madera County
    • Knowles Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knowles have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
    • Raymond
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
      • Raymond is located in Madera County
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fresno, with the one closest to Fresno listed first.
    • Dinuba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • London
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
      • London is located in Tulare County
    • Traver
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sultana
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fresno ...

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 123 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fresno.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fresno. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fresno and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fresno.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Fresno.

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 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 Fresno:

Cemeteries Near Fresno ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fresno.

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

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

  • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Fresno County Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Masis Ararat Armenian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Belmont Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Clovis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
  • Continue List   (39 more) ...
    • Fresno Memorial Gardens
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fresno Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fresno Memorial Gardens
    • Washington Colony Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Redbank Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Redbank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Redbank 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fresno had a population of 10,818 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fresno had a population of 530,267 people.

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

  • Muscatel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
  • Malaga
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malaga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
  • Lone Star
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
  • Easton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Herndon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County
  • Oleander
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oleander have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
    • Oleander is located in Fresno County
  • Fowler
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sanger
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Letcher ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Letcher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
    • Letcher is located in Fresno County
  • Caruthers
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Selma
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Selma is located in Fresno County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <2>
  • Sentinel ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sentinel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
    • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Wildflower
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildflower have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
      • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
    • La Vina
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
    • Reedley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)

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

The official website for Fresno: www.fresno.gov/

The official website for Fresno County: www.co.fresno.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fresno) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fresno. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7869, Longitude: -119.7634    
<5>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.
<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 Fresno, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024