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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 Alta Sierra (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 Alta Sierra. 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 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.

Alta Sierra is located in Nevada 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 Nevada County: Placer, Sierra, Yuba & Washoe (NV).

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

  • Nevada County     (The home county of Alta Sierra)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Chicago Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Union Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Cedar Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kres
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Kres is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kres
    • Grass Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • The Oaks
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • The Oaks is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Oaks
    • Glenbrook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Spring Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Spring Hill is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
    • Bitney Corner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bitney Corner is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitney Corner
    • Gold Flat
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Gold Flat is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Flat
    • Rough and Ready
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake of the Pines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Lake of the Pines is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake of the Pines
    • Nevada City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Bangor
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clipper Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Oroleve
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Oroleve is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroleve
    • Evansville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Evansville is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
    • Forbestown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Honcut
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Robinson Mill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Robinson Mill is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Mill
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Cool
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Greenwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Georgetown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fornis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Fornis is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fornis
    • Pilot Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Garden Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lotus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Coloma
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Quintette
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Quintette is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
    • Salmon Falls ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Salmon Falls is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon Falls
    • Kelsey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Kelsey is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsey
    • Gold Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Gold Hill is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
    • Equestrian Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Equestrian Village is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Equestrian Village
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Chicago Park ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Chicago Park is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Park
    • Colfax
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Weimar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Secret Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Secret Town is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
    • Gold Run
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Iowa Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Applegate
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Vista
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Dutch Flat
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Clipper Gap
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Clipper Gap is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper Gap
    • Yankee Jims
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
    • Alta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Bowman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Sacramento County
    • Mormon Island ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Mormon Island is located in Sacramento County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon Island
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Alleghany
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
    • Goodyears Bar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Rio Oso
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bogue
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Bogue is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
    • Yuba City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alta Sierra, with the one closest to Alta Sierra listed first.
    • Smartville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Timbuctoo ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Timbuctoo is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuctoo
    • Dobbins
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Oregon House
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
    • Browns Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Camptonville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Wheatland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Loma Rica
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
    • Iowa City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Iowa City is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa City
    • Dantoni
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Dantoni is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dantoni

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

Cemeteries Near Alta Sierra ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alta Sierra.

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 Alta Sierra - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Greenwood Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Elm Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Colfax Indian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Colfax Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rough & Ready Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Deer Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Deer Creek Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Nevada City.
    • The Deer Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New Odd Fellows Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400769 <2>
  • Forest View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Iowa Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Kneebone Family Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lone Star Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Dutch Flat Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Flat Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta

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

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

  • Chicago Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Kres
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kres is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kres
  • Union Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • Buena Vista ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Buena Vista is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
  • Colfax
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Glenbrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
  • Wolf
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Wolf is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf
  • Rough and Ready
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Weimar
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Nevada City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • You Bet ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • You Bet is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
  • Gold Run
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Clipper Gap
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Clipper Gap is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper Gap
    • Yankee Jims
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
    • Dutch Flat
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Alta Sierra ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alta Sierra.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alta Sierra, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alta Sierra.

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 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 Alta Sierra:

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