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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 Alten (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 Alten. 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 doctors and 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.

Alten is located in Sonoma 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 Sonoma County: Contra Costa, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa & Solano.

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

  • Sonoma County     (The home county of Alten)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alten, with the one closest to Alten listed first.
    • Sebastopol
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • South Santa Rosa
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Santa Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Santa Rosa
      • South Santa Rosa is located in Sonoma County
    • Bellevue
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Bellevue is located in Sonoma County
    • Roseland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
      • Roseland is located in Sonoma County
    • Graton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bloomfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
      • Bloomfield is located in Sonoma County
    • Freestone
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Santa Rosa
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cotati
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rohnert Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Stony Point
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
      • Stony Point is located in Sonoma County
    • Montgomery Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montgomery Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Village
      • Montgomery Village is located in Sonoma County
    • Occidental
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Lake County
  • Marin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alten, with the one closest to Alten listed first.
    • Tomales
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Dillon Beach
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hamlet
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamlet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
      • Hamlet is located in Marin County
    • Nicks Cove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicks Cove
      • Nicks Cove is located in Marin County
    • Marshall
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Millerton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in Marin County
    • Inverness
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Point Reyes Station
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Nicasio
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Novato
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Olema
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Tocaloma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tocaloma have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocaloma
      • Tocaloma is located in Marin County
    • Old Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Marin County
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alten, with the one closest to Alten listed first.
    • Woodleaf
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodleaf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
      • Woodleaf is located in Napa County
    • Calistoga
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Deer Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Helena
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rutherford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Oakville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Angwin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Yountville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Pope Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Merazo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merazo
      • Merazo is located in Napa County
    • Union
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Napa County
    • Napa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napa
      • Napa is located in Napa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,032 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napa <1>
    • Suscol ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suscol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suscol
      • Suscol is located in Napa County
      • Suscol has also been known as:
      • Soscol
      • Susqual

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

Newspapers Published in Alten ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alten.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alten, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alten.

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 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 Alten:

Cemeteries Near Alten ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alten.

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

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

  • Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hills Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hills Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hills Memorial Park
  • Canfield Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canfield Cemetery
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Macedonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Macedonia Cemetery
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Hill Cemetery
  • Steele Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Bloomfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bloomfield Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Bloomfield.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bloomfield Cemetery
  • Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
  • Gilliam Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilliam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilliam Cemetery
  • Green Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Valley Cemetery
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Moke Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moke Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moke Cemetery
    • Stanley Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stanley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stanley 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.<5>

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

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

  • Bloomfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
    • Bloomfield is located in Sonoma County
  • Freestone
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Stony Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Stony Point is located in Sonoma County
  • Cotati
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Rosa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Valley Ford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Trenton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Trenton is located in Sonoma County
  • Occidental
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Forestville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Fulton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Penngrove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Tomales
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Ely ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ely have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
      • Ely is located in Sonoma County
    • Melita
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
      • Melita is located in Sonoma County
    • Windsor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

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

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

The official website for Sonoma County: www.sonoma-county.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>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 from Point A (ie- Alten) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alten. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3813, Longitude: -122.8064       In this case, the coordinates for Alten have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Alten, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024