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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 La Porte (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 La Porte. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

La Porte is located in Plumas 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 Plumas County: Butte, Lassen, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Plumas County     (The home county of La Porte)
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Porte, with the one closest to La Porte listed first.
    • Little Grass Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Grass Valley
      • Little Grass Valley is located in Plumas County
    • Plumas Eureka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plumas Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumas Eureka
      • Plumas Eureka is located in Plumas County
    • Johnsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Bucks Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Lake
      • Bucks Lake is located in Plumas County
    • East Quincy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Quincy
      • East Quincy is located in Plumas County
    • Meadow Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Quincy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Silver Creek ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Silver Creek is located in Plumas County
    • Spanish Ranch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spanish Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
      • Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
    • Massack
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massack
      • Massack is located in Plumas County
    • Spring Garden
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
      • Spring Garden is located in Plumas County
    • Cromberg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Porte, with the one closest to La Porte listed first.
    • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumpkin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
      • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
    • Clipper Mills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Oroleve
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroleve
      • Oroleve is located in Butte County
    • Feather Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Merrimac
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrimac have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Merrimac is located in Butte County
    • Evansville ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evansville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
      • Evansville is located in Butte County
    • Forbestown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Robinson Mill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Mill
      • Robinson Mill is located in Butte County
    • Berry Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • South Fork ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fork
      • South Fork is located in Butte County
    • Bidwell Bar ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bidwell Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell Bar
      • Bidwell Bar is located in Butte County
    • Big Bar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
      • Big Bar is located in Butte County
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Porte, with the one closest to La Porte listed first.
    • North Columbia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Columbia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Columbia
      • North Columbia is located in Nevada County
    • Graniteville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
      • Graniteville is located in Nevada County
    • Lake City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
      • Lake City is located in Nevada County
    • North Bloomfield ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bloomfield
      • North Bloomfield is located in Nevada County
    • North San Juan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Marsh Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Mill
      • Marsh Mill is located in Nevada County
    • Washington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Birchville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchville
      • Birchville is located in Nevada County
    • Blue Tent
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Tent
      • Blue Tent is located in Nevada County
    • Scotts Flat
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Flat
      • Scotts Flat is located in Nevada County
    • Nevada City Rancheria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nevada City Rancheria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevada City Rancheria
      • Nevada City Rancheria is located in Nevada County
    • Bridgeport
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Bridgeport is located in Nevada County
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bear Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
      • Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Porte, with the one closest to La Porte listed first.
    • Queen City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queen City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
      • Queen City is located in Sierra County
    • Poker Flat
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
      • Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandy City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
    • Downieville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Goodyears Bar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
    • Alleghany
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Loganville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loganville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
      • Loganville is located in Sierra County
    • Sierra City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Calpine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Sattley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Porte, with the one closest to La Porte listed first.
    • Strawberry Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Depot Hill ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Depot Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
      • Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
    • Camptonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
    • Challenge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bullards Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Brownsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dobbins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Rackerby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Oregon House
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of La Porte ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around La Porte.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 La Porte:

Cemeteries Near La Porte ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of La Porte.

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

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

  • La Porte Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Port Wine Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Louis Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the St. Louis Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Louis Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the west of La Porte.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Louis Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8331 <5>
  • Scales Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Scales Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scales Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2361724 <5>
  • Howland Flat Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Howland Flat Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howland Flat Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2186787 <5>
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Gibsonville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Eureka Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eureka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eureka Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7955 <5>
  • Strawberry Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Brandy City Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Brandy City Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brandy City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217386 <5>
  • Goodyears Bar Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Downieville Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...

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 La Porte had a population of 214 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Saint Louis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Louis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Louis
    • Saint Louis is located in Sierra County
  • Scales ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scales have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scales
    • Scales is located in Sierra County
  • Gibsonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gibsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
    • Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
  • Strawberry Valley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Goodyears Bar
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Downieville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumpkin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
    • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
  • Clipper Mills
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Camptonville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Pike
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pike have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike
    • Pike is located in Sierra County
    • Pike has also been known as:
    • Pike City
  • Alleghany
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Johnsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Meadow Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Quincy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Merrimac
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merrimac have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Merrimac is located in Butte County

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

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

The official website for Plumas County: www.countyofplumas.com/

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' (or 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- La Porte) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Porte. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6831, Longitude: -120.9865    
<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 La Porte, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024