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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 Pleasanton (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 Pleasanton. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Pleasanton is located in Alameda 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 Alameda County: Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.

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

  • Alameda County     (The home county of Pleasanton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • Dublin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Komandorski Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Komandorski Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Komandorski Village
      • Komandorski Village is located in Alameda County
    • Sunol
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • San Ramon Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Ramon Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Ramon Village
      • San Ramon Village is located in Alameda County
    • Scotts Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corner
      • Scotts Corner is located in Alameda County
    • Laddville ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Laddville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddville
      • Laddville is located in Alameda County
    • Livermore
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairview
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Alameda County
    • Fremont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Fremont is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234,569 people
      • Former names for Fremont:
      • Centerville
      • Irvington
      • Mission San Jose
      • Niles
      • Warm Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <1>
    • Union City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
      • Union City is located in Alameda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 74,501 people
      • Former name for Union City:
      • Decoto
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <1>
    • Castro Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Hayward
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Altamont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altamont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
      • Altamont is located in Alameda County
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • Tassajara
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tassajara
      • Tassajara is located in Contra Costa County
    • San Ramon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Blackhawk - Camino Tassajara
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Blackhawk
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackhawk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackhawk
      • Blackhawk is located in Contra Costa County
    • Diablo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Danville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
      • Danville is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,883 people
      • Former name for Danville:
      • Inmanville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danville <1>
    • Rock City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
      • Rock City is located in Contra Costa County
    • Marsh Creek Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Creek Springs
      • Marsh Creek Springs is located in Contra Costa County
    • Alamo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Moraga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moraga
      • Moraga is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,967 people
      • Former name for Moraga:
      • Willow Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moraga <1>
    • Clayton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,527 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clayton <1>
    • Byron
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Walnut Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • San Francisco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • Chinatown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
      • Chinatown is located in San Francisco County
    • San Francisco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Sydney Town ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sydney Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydney Town
      • Sydney Town is located in San Francisco County
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • Carnegie ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carnegie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnegie
      • Carnegie is located in San Joaquin County
    • Tracy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tracy
      • Tracy is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,025 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tracy <1>
    • Wainwright Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wainwright Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wainwright Village
      • Wainwright Village is located in San Joaquin County
    • Lyoth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyoth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyoth
      • Lyoth is located in San Joaquin County
    • Banta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Holt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • East Palo Alto
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • The Willows
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
    • North Fair Oaks
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Fair Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Fair Oaks
      • North Fair Oaks is located in San Mateo County
    • Atherton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Menlo Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Foster City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Redwood City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • San Carlos
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • West Menlo Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Belmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Emerald Lake Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Lake Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Lake Hills
      • Emerald Lake Hills is located in San Mateo County
    • Ladera
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • Laurel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in San Mateo County
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasanton, with the one closest to Pleasanton listed first.
    • Milpitas
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Alviso
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Agnew
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
      • Agnew is located in Santa Clara County
    • East Foothills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Foothills
      • East Foothills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Alum Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Rock
      • Alum Rock is located in Santa Clara County
    • Santa Clara
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Castro City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castro City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castro City
      • Castro City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Palo Alto
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ventura
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
      • Ventura is located in Santa Clara County
    • San Jose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Jose
      • San Jose is located in Santa Clara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013,616 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Jose <1>
    • Escondido Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Escondido Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escondido Village
      • Escondido Village is located in Santa Clara County
    • Mountain View
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stanford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Solano County
    • Benicia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Pleasanton ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasanton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Pleasanton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Pleasanton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Pleasanton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4> of Pleasanton.

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 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 Pleasanton:

Cemeteries Near Pleasanton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasanton.

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

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

  • Pleasanton Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasanton Memorial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasanton Memorial Gardens Cemetery
  • Oak Knoll Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Knoll Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Knoll Cemetery
  • Dublin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dublin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dublin Cemetery
  • Roselawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roselawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roselawn Cemetery
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
  • Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery
  • Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park
  • Ohlone Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Ohlones Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ohlones Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ohlones Cemetery
  • Mission San Jose Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission San Jose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission San Jose Cemetery
  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Cemetery
  • Continue List   (51 more) ...
    • Irvington Memorial Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • All Saints Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the All Saints Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the All Saints 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 Pleasanton had a population of 984 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Pleasanton had a population of 80,247 people.

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

  • Sunol
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Livermore
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • San Ramon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Alvarado ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alvarado. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
    • Alvarado is located in Alameda County
  • Newark
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Danville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Danville is located in Contra Costa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,883 people
    • Former name for Danville:
    • Inmanville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danville <1>
  • San Lorenzo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Mount Eden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Milpitas
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Alamo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • San Leandro
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Alviso
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Midway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Midway is located in Alameda County
    • Seminary Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Park
      • Seminary Park is located in Alameda County
    • Clayton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Contra Costa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,527 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clayton <1>

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

The official website for Pleasanton: www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/

The official website for Alameda County: www.acgov.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Pleasanton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pleasanton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6627, Longitude: -121.8748    
<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 Pleasanton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024