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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 Sunol (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 Sunol. 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 northeast 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 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.

Sunol 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 Sunol. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sunol:

  • Alameda County     (The home county of Sunol)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunol, with the one closest to Sunol listed first.
    • Scotts Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corner
      • Scotts Corner is located in Alameda County
    • Pleasanton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Fremont
      (6 miles [9.7 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>
    • Dublin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Komandorski Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albrae have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
    • Union City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • San Ramon Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Laddville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Larkins Landing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
    • Newark
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunol, with the one closest to Sunol listed first.
    • San Ramon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Blackhawk - Camino Tassajara
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Tassajara
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tassajara
      • Tassajara is located in Contra Costa County
    • Blackhawk
      (15 miles [24.1 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
    • Danville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Diablo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Rock City
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Alamo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Marsh Creek Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Creek Springs
      • Marsh Creek Springs is located in Contra Costa County
    • Moraga
      (21 miles [33.8 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>
    • Byron
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Lafayette
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunol, with the one closest to Sunol 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (27 miles [43.5 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
      (28 miles [45.1 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunol, with the one closest to Sunol listed first.
    • East Palo Alto
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • The Willows
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
    • Menlo Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • North Fair Oaks
      (18 miles [29 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
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • West Menlo Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Foster City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Redwood City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Ladera
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • San Carlos
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Emerald Lake Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 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
    • Belmont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sunol, with the one closest to Sunol listed first.
    • Milpitas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Alviso
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Agnew
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
      • Agnew is located in Santa Clara County
    • East Foothills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Foothills
      • East Foothills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Alum Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Rock
      • Alum Rock is located in Santa Clara County
    • Santa Clara
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Castro City
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Mountain View
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Palo Alto
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunnyvale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Buena Vista
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista is located in Santa Clara County
    • Burbank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burbank
      • Burbank is located in Santa Clara County
  • Santa Cruz County
    • Alma ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Santa Cruz County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sunol ...

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 123 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunol.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sunol. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sunol and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sunol.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<4> of Sunol.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Sunol:

Cemeteries Near Sunol ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunol.

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

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

  • Pleasanton Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Mission San Jose Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 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
  • Irvington Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ohlone Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ohlones Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Presbyterian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Holy Ghost Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Ghost Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Ghost Cemetery
  • Dublin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Oak Knoll Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • 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
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Continue List   (53 more) ...
    • Cedar Lawn Memorial Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • St. Michaels Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Roselawn Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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

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 in 1895, Sunol had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Pleasanton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Newark
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Livermore
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Alvarado ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Milpitas
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Alviso
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Mount Eden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • San Ramon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Agnew
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnew
    • Agnew is located in Santa Clara County
  • Berryessa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berryessa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryessa
    • Berryessa is located in Santa Clara County
  • San Lorenzo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Lawrence
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lawrence have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Lawrence is located in Santa Clara County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Santa Clara
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Danville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Palo Alto
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)

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

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

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sunol) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sunol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5939, Longitude: -121.8885    
<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 Sunol, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024