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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 Ridgecrest (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 Ridgecrest. 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.

A Few Details for Ridgecrest ...

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

  • Ridgecrest was established in 1912.
  • It was incorporated on November 29, 1963.

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 and doctors 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.

Ridgecrest is located in Kern 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 Kern County: Inyo, Kings, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare & Ventura.

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

  • Kern County     (The home county of Ridgecrest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgecrest, with the one closest to Ridgecrest listed first.
    • China Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • China Lake Acres
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Lake Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Lake Acres
      • China Lake Acres is located in Kern County
    • Inyokern
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Freeman ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
      • Freeman is located in Kern County
    • Armistead
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armistead
      • Armistead is located in Kern County
    • Garlock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garlock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garlock
      • Garlock is located in Kern County
    • Johannesburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Randsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Saltdale ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saltdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltdale
      • Saltdale is located in Kern County
    • Cantil
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Inyo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgecrest, with the one closest to Ridgecrest listed first.
    • Pearsonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearsonville
      • Pearsonville is located in Inyo County
    • Linnie ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linnie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linnie
      • Linnie is located in Inyo County
    • Valley Wells
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Wells
      • Valley Wells is located in Inyo County
    • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells
      • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells is located in Inyo County
      • Homewood Canyon - Valley Wells has also been known as:
      • Homewood Canyon
    • Narka ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Narka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narka
      • Narka is located in Inyo County
    • Little Lake ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Coso ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coso have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coso
      • Coso is located in Inyo County
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgecrest, with the one closest to Ridgecrest listed first.
    • Spangler ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spangler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
      • Spangler is located in San Bernardino County
    • Pinnacle ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pinnacle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnacle
      • Pinnacle is located in San Bernardino County
    • Westend
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westend
      • Westend is located in San Bernardino County
    • Argus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argus
      • Argus is located in San Bernardino County
    • Searles Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searles Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searles Valley
      • Searles Valley is located in San Bernardino County
    • Red Mountain
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Trona
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ridgecrest ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgecrest.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ridgecrest. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ridgecrest and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ridgecrest.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4> of Ridgecrest.

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 Ridgecrest:

Cemeteries Near Ridgecrest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgecrest.

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

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

  • Desert Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Roger McGavin Gravesite
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Roger McGavin Gravesite. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roger McGavin Gravesite
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2386701 <5>
  • Garlock - Goler Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Garlock - Goler Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Garlock - Goler Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Garlock
    • The Garlock - Goler Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Benson Canyon Cemetery
    • Goler Cemetery
    • Goler Mine Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garlock - Goler Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2432257 <5>
  • Mt. Owens Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Rand District Community Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rand District Community Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Johannesburg
    • The Rand District Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Johannesburg Cemetery
    • Rand District Cemetery
    • Randsburg Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rand District Community Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #685739 <5>
  • Searles Valley Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Little Lake Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Little Lake Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Little Lake Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Little Lake
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Lake Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2425875 <5>
  • Josie Bishop Gravesite
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

  • Freeman ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Freeman is located in Kern County

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

The official website for Ridgecrest: www.ci.ridgecrest.ca.us/

The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.ca.us/

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 '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- Ridgecrest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ridgecrest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6224, Longitude: -117.6700    
<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 Ridgecrest, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024