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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 Hills Ferry (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 Hills Ferry. 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 Hills Ferry ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Hills Ferry: Hills Fry. (or less commonly used: Hills Frry.)
  • While the name of this community is Hills Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hills Ferry may originally have been Hill's Ferry.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hills Ferry might be written as Hill Ferry.

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.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Hills Ferry is located in Stanislaus 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 Stanislaus County: Alameda, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin & Santa Clara.

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

  • Stanislaus County     (The home county of Hills Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Ferry, with the one closest to Hills Ferry listed first.
    • Newman
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 <2>
    • Crows Landing
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Patterson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Turlock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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 <2>
    • Keyes
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Denair
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bret Harte
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
      • Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County
    • Ceres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • 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 <2>
    • Bystrom
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bystrom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bystrom
      • Bystrom is located in Stanislaus County
    • Hughson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Riverdale Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverdale Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale Park
      • Riverdale Park is located in Stanislaus County
    • Shackelford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shackelford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shackelford
      • Shackelford is located in Stanislaus County
    • Grayson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grayson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
      • Grayson is located in Stanislaus County
  • Merced County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Ferry, with the one closest to Hills Ferry listed first.
    • Gustine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Stevinson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hilmar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Delhi
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Livingston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Ballico
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cressey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Santa Nella Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Santa Nella
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Volta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volta
      • Volta is located in Merced County
    • Trent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent
      • Trent is located in Merced County
    • Atwater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Winton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Ferry, with the one closest to Hills Ferry listed first.
    • Vernalis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ripon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
      • Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <2>
    • Escalon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escalon
      • Escalon is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,580 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Escalon <2>
  • Santa Clara County
    • Bell Station
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • 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

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

Newspapers Published in Hills Ferry ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hills Ferry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hills Ferry, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hills Ferry.

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 helpful 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 Hills Ferry:

Cemeteries Near Hills Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hills Ferry.

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

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

  • Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Hills Ferry Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • South Hilmar Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Hilmar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Hilmar Cemetery
  • North Hilmar Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Turlock Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Denair Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Patterson Cemetery District
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Grayson Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Winton Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • 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 <5>
  • Lakewood Memorial Park
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakewood Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakewood Memorial Park
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Los Banos Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Los Banos Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Los Banos.
      • The Los Banos Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Los Banos District Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Banos Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8133 <5>
    • Woodcolony Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodcolony Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Modesto.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodcolony 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>

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

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

  • Newman
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • 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 <2>
  • Crows Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Gustine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Linora ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linora
    • Linora is located in Merced County
  • Ingomar
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ingomar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingomar
    • Ingomar is located in Merced County
  • Delhi
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Turlock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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 <2>
  • Livingston
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Keyes
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Arena
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arena have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
    • Arena is located in Merced County
  • Volta
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volta
    • Volta is located in Merced County
  • Ceres
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Grayson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grayson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
      • Grayson is located in Stanislaus County
    • Westley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Atwater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)

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

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

The official website for Stanislaus County: www.co.stanislaus.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Hills Ferry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hills Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3488, Longitude: -120.9797       In this case, the coordinates for Hills Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Hills Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024