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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 Happy 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 Happy 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 Happy 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.

Happy Valley was originally named Oak Highlands

A past name for Happy Valley: Oak.

  • A typical abbreviation for Happy Valley: Happy Vly. (or less commonly used: Happy Vally. or Happy 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.

A Few Details for Happy Valley ...

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

  • Happy Valley was established in 1860.

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 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.

Happy Valley is located in Shasta 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 Shasta County: Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama & Trinity.

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

  • Shasta County     (The home county of Happy Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
    • Olinda
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinda
      • Olinda is located in Shasta County
    • Redding Rancheria
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding Rancheria
      • Redding Rancheria is located in Shasta County
    • Bell's Bridge ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bell's Bridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell's Bridge
      • Bell's Bridge is located in Shasta County
    • Girvan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Girvan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
      • Girvan is located in Shasta County
    • Latona ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Latona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latona
      • Latona is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Latona:
      • New Town
    • Briggsville ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Briggsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggsville
      • Briggsville is located in Shasta County
      • Former name for Briggsville:
      • Moorestown
    • Cloverdale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
      • Cloverdale is located in Shasta County
    • Anderson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
      • Anderson is located in Shasta County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,565 people
      • Former name for Anderson:
      • American Ranch
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <3>
    • Pacheco
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pacheco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacheco
      • Pacheco is located in Shasta County
    • Horsetown ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Horsetown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsetown
      • Horsetown is located in Shasta County
      • Former names for Horsetown:
      • Clear Creek Diggings
      • One Horse Town
    • Texas Springs ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Texas Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas Springs
      • Texas Springs is located in Shasta County
    • Centerville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
      • Centerville is located in Shasta County
  • Tehama County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
    • Hooker
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Tehama County
    • Bend
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
      • Bend is located in Tehama County
    • Dales
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dales
      • Dales is located in Tehama County
    • Red Bluff
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rawson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
      • Rawson is located in Tehama County
    • Paynes Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Manton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Proberta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Rancho Tehama Reserve
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rancho Tehama Reserve have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Tehama Reserve
      • Rancho Tehama Reserve is located in Tehama County
    • Gerber
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
    • Deadwood ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deadwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
      • Deadwood is located in Trinity County
    • Lewiston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Happy 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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Happy Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Happy Valley, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Happy Valley.

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 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 Happy Valley:

Cemeteries Near Happy Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Happy 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 Happy Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Cloverdale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Texas Springs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Texas Springs Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • The Texas Springs Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Upper Texas Springs Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Texas Springs Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217622 <5>
  • Anderson District Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Anderson Pioneer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pinckney Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Cottonwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Middleton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middleton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middleton Cemetery
  • Middletown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Northern California Veterans Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Bates Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Bates Pioneer Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bates Pioneer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1988777 <5>
  • Lawncrest Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
    • Igo Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Igo Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Igo Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2242774 <5>
    • Redding Memorial Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)

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 Happy Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Happy Valley.

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

  • Olinda
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinda
    • Olinda is located in Shasta County
  • Girvan
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Girvan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
    • Girvan is located in Shasta County
  • Anderson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
    • Anderson is located in Shasta County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,565 people
    • Former name for Anderson:
    • American Ranch
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <3>
  • Gas Point ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas Point
    • Gas Point is located in Shasta County
  • Cottonwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Igo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Redding
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Waugh ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waugh have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
    • Waugh is located in Shasta County
  • Hooker
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
    • Hooker is located in Tehama County
  • Shasta
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Balls Ferry ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Balls Ferry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balls Ferry
    • Balls Ferry is located in Shasta County
  • Ono
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ono
    • Ono is located in Shasta County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Millville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Buckeye
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Buckeye is located in Shasta County
    • Hart ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
      • Hart is located in Shasta County
      • Hart has also been known as:
      • Hart Village
      • Hart's Camp

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

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

The official website for Shasta County: www.co.shasta.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Happy Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Happy Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4502, Longitude: -122.4027    
<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 Happy Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 09 Mar 2024