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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 Academy (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 Academy. 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.

Academy is located in Fresno County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fresno County: Inyo, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito & Tulare.

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

  • Fresno County     (The home county of Academy)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Academy, with the one closest to Academy listed first.
    • Sentinel ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
    • Prather
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Gravesboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Gravesboro is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravesboro
    • Piedra
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Clovis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Tollhouse
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Friant
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tarpey Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Tarpey Village is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpey Village
    • Minkler
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Minkler is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minkler
    • Sanger
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Auberry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Madera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Academy, with the one closest to Academy listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • O'Neals
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • North Fork
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Yosemite Lakes Park is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Lakes Park
      • Yosemite Lakes Park has also been known as:
      • Yosemite Lakes
    • Parksdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
    • Coarsegold
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Wishon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wishon is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishon
    • Parkwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Knowles Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Madera
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Nevada County
    • Cedar Crest
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedar Crest is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Academy, with the one closest to Academy listed first.
    • Dinuba
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Sultana
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Orosi
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • London
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • London is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • Cutler
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • East Orosi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • East Orosi is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orosi
    • Traver
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Academy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Academy.

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 Academy - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Academy Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Redbank Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Auberry Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hazelton Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hughes Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchell Cove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winchell Cove Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Friant.
  • Clovis Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Acres Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Watts Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Winchell Cove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Sanger Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Tollhouse Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...
    • Big Sandy Rancheria Tribal Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Del Rey Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Del Rey Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Del Rey.
      • The Del Rey Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Prairie Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1997625 <2>

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.<3>

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

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

  • Letcher ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Letcher is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
  • Sentinel ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
  • Tollhouse
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sanger
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Auberry
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Fresno
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lone Star
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Malaga
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
  • Muscatel
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
  • Fowler
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Yokuts
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Reedley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Easton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oleander
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Oleander is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
    • Herndon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Herndon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon

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

Newspapers Published in Academy ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Academy.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Academy, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Academy.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

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

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