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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 Gilroy (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 Gilroy. 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 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 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.

Gilroy is located in Santa Clara 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 Clara County: Alameda, Merced, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz & Stanislaus.

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

  • Santa Clara County     (The home county of Gilroy)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gilroy, with the one closest to Gilroy listed first.
    • Rucker
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
      • Rucker is located in Santa Clara County
    • San Martin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Sargent ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
      • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
    • Morgan Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Madrone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
      • Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
    • Sveadal
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Bell Station
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
      • Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
      • Bell Station has also been known as:
      • Bell's Station
    • Coyote
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • English Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for English Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
      • English Town is located in Santa Clara County
    • New Almaden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holy City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Lexington Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Patchen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gilroy, with the one closest to Gilroy listed first.
    • Aromas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pajaro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Las Lomas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
    • Elkhorn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Prunedale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Moss Landing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Castroville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Santa Rita
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Rita have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
    • Boronda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
    • Salinas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Marina
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <1>
    • Spreckels
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Prattco ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prattco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattco
      • Prattco is located in Monterey County
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gilroy, with the one closest to Gilroy listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
    • Dunneville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
      • Dunneville is located in San Benito County
    • San Juan Bautista
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Hollister
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridgemark
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgemark
      • Ridgemark is located in San Benito County
    • Tres Pinos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Paicines
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gilroy, with the one closest to Gilroy listed first.
    • Interlaken
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
      • Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Strongs Mobile Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strongs Mobile Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strongs Mobile Village
      • Strongs Mobile Village is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Colache Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colache Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
      • Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Watsonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Amesti
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
      • Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Corralitos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Freedom
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Day Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
      • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
    • La Selva Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rio del Mar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Aptos
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • The Willows
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in Santa Cruz County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Gilroy ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gilroy.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Gilroy. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Gilroy and those printed in the larger area surrounding Gilroy.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4> of Gilroy.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Gilroy:

Cemeteries Near Gilroy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gilroy.

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

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

  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pajaro Valley Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
  • San Juan Bautista Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Hambey Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hambey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hambey Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 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.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Calvary Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (28 more) ...
    • Day Valley Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    • Hacienda Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hacienda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hacienda 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 Gilroy had a population of 1,694 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Gilroy had a population of 54,831 people.

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

  • Carnadero
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carnadero have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnadero
    • Carnadero is located in Santa Clara County
  • Sargent ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
    • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
  • Tennant ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tennant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennant
    • Tennant is located in Santa Clara County
  • Vega ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vega have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
    • Vega is located in Monterey County
  • Madrone
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
    • Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
  • Watsonville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Pajaro
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
    • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
  • Corralitos
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Hollister
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Bell Station
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
    • Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
    • Bell Station has also been known as:
    • Bell's Station
  • Coyote
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Perry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
    • Perry is located in Santa Clara County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Elkhorn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • New Almaden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Aptos
      (18 miles [29 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 Gilroy. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gilroy.

The official website for Gilroy: www.ci.gilroy.ca.us/

The official website for Santa Clara County: www.sccgov.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>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 '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- Gilroy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gilroy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0100, Longitude: -121.5701    
<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 Gilroy, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024