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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 Atwater (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 Atwater. 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 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 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.

Atwater is located in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles County: Kern, Orange, San Bernardino & Ventura.

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

  • Los Angeles County     (The home county of Atwater)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Glendale
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Glendale is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197,747 people
      • Former name for Glendale:
      • Tropico
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glendale <1>
    • Eagle Rock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Eagle Rock is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Rock
    • Edendale ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Edendale is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edendale
    • New Chinatown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • New Chinatown is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chinatown
    • Lincoln Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lincoln Heights is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
    • Garvanza
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Garvanza is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garvanza
    • Highland Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Aliso Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Aliso Village is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aliso Village
    • El Sereno
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • El Sereno is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Sereno
    • Hollywood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hollywood is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
    • Koreatown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Koreatown is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koreatown
    • Hollywood Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Hollywood Hills is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood Hills
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • La Habra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Buena Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • La Palma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Brea is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brea
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,484 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brea <1>
    • Cypress
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Los Alamitos
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rossmoor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossmoor is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossmoor
    • Fullerton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Stanton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Seal Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Anaheim
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Placentia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Ventura County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Atwater, with the one closest to Atwater listed first.
    • Oak Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Simi Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Atwater ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Atwater.

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

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

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

  • Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale is a very large cemetery that is located in Glendale.
    • The Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale has also been known as:
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery - Glendale
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale
    • Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    • Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7974 <2>
  • Grand View Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Hollywood Forever Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood Forever Cemetery
    • The Hollywood Forever Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beth Olam Cemetery
    • Beth Olam Mausoleum
    • Hollywood Memorial Cemetery
    • Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8033 <2>
  • Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills is a very large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the south of Burbank.
    • The Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills has also been known as:
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery - Hollywood Hills
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills
    • Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery
    • Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7975 <2>
  • Angelus Rosedale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angelus Rosedale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Los Angeles.
    • The Angelus Rosedale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosedale Cemetery
    • Rosedale Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8309 <2>
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (72 more) ...
    • Mausoleum of the Golden West
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Serbian Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Chinese Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Glendale
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Glendale is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 197,747 people
    • Former name for Glendale:
    • Tropico
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glendale <1>
  • West Glendale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • West Glendale is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Glendale
  • Naud Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Naud Junction is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naud Junction
  • Mission Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mission Junction is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Junction
  • Garvanza
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Garvanza is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garvanza
  • Highland Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Los Angeles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Aurant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Aurant is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurant
  • Burbank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Burbank is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burbank
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 101,866 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burbank <1>
  • Shorb
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Shorb is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorb
  • South Pasadena
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Pasadena
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Pasadena is located in Los Angeles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasadena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 141,045 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pasadena <1>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Verdugo City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Clement Junction
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Clement Junction is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement Junction
    • Alhambra
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Atwater. See our List of 1890's Communities around Atwater.

Newspapers Published in Atwater ...

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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Atwater.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Atwater, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Atwater.

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 helpful 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 Atwater:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Atwater) 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 Atwater, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.