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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 Big Reef Mill (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 Big Reef Mill. 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 Big Reef Mill ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Big Reef Mill: Big Reef Ml. (or less commonly used: Big Reef Mll.)

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 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.

Big Reef Mill is located in Yavapai County.

To see how the shape of Arizona's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Yavapai County: Coconino, Gila, La Paz, Maricopa & Mohave.

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

  • Yavapai County     (The home county of Big Reef Mill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Reef Mill, with the one closest to Big Reef Mill listed first.
    • Briggs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Briggs is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs
    • Copperopolis ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Copperopolis is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copperopolis
    • Constellation ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Constellation is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constellation
    • Columbia ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Columbia is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
    • Humbug ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Humbug is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humbug
    • Fort Misery ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Misery is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Misery
    • Minnehaha ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Minnehaha is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnehaha
    • Tip Top ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Tip Top is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tip Top
    • Lapham ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Lapham is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapham
    • Minnehaha Flats ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Minnehaha Flats is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnehaha Flats
    • Oro Belle ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Oro Belle is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oro Belle
    • Octave ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Octave is located in Yavapai County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Octave
  • Maricopa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Reef Mill, with the one closest to Big Reef Mill listed first.
    • Morristown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Circle City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Circle City is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circle City
    • Wittmann
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Wickenburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Anthem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • New River
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Sun City West
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Vulture City ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Vulture City is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulture City
      • Vulture City has also been known as:
      • Vulture Mine
      • Vulture
    • Surprise
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Westbrook Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • El Mirage
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Arrowhead Ranch
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Arrowhead Ranch is located in Maricopa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead Ranch

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

Cemeteries Near Big Reef Mill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Reef Mill.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Big Reef Mill - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Reef Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Constellation Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Copperopolis Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Champie Ranch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Morristown Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Columbia Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Champie Mill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champie Mill Cemetery
    • The Champie Mill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Allen's Mill Cemetery
  • Brill Ranch Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brill Ranch Cemetery
    • The Brill Ranch Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Martin Family Cemetery
  • Kentucks Gravesite
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Home Mission Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Mission Cemetery
    • The Home Mission Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sleeping Bride Cemetery
  • Garcia Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garcia Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Garcia Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northwest of Wickenburg.
    • The Garcia Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1704293 <2>
  • St. Alban's Episcopal Church Memorial Garden
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Minnehaha Flats Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 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.<4>

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

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

  • Briggs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Briggs is located in Yavapai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggs
  • Wickenburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Tip Top ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Tip Top is located in Yavapai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tip Top
  • Crown King
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Stanton ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Stanton is located in Yavapai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanton
  • Walnut Grove
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Yavapai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
  • Vulture City ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Vulture City is located in Maricopa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulture City
    • Vulture City has also been known as:
    • Vulture Mine
    • Vulture
  • Bumble Bee
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Congress
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Cordes ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cordes is located in Yavapai County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordes

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

Newspapers Published in Big Reef Mill ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Reef Mill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Reef Mill, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Reef Mill.

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 Big Reef Mill:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Big Reef Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Big Reef Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.