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 Avena (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 Avena. 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 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.
Avena is located in San Joaquin 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 San Joaquin County: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.
Below are the counties that are near Avena. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Avena:
- San Joaquin County (The home county of Avena)
- The following are listed by their distance from Avena, with the one closest to Avena listed first.
- Alba
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Alba is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
- Atlanta
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Escalon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Five Corners
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Five Corners is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
- Trigo ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Trigo is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigo
- Cometa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cometa is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cometa
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ripon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <1>
- Manteca Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Manteca Junction is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteca Junction
- Manteca
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Holden ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Holden is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holden
- Peters
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Amador County
- Camanche Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Camanche Village is located in Amador County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camanche Village
- Calaveras County
- The following are listed by their distance from Avena, with the one closest to Avena listed first.
- Milton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Milton is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Telegraph City
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Telegraph City is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telegraph City
- Jenny Lind
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jenny Lind is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenny Lind
- Rancho Calaveras
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Rancho Calaveras is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Calaveras
- Copper Cove Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Copper Cove Village is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cove Village
- Wallace
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Carmen City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Carmen City is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmen City
- Lost City ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lost City is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost City
- Burson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Copperopolis
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- The Shores of Poker Flat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Oregon Bar ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Oregon Bar is located in Calaveras County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon Bar
- Contra Costa County
- Discovery Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Stanislaus County
- The following are listed by their distance from Avena, with the one closest to Avena listed first.
- Del Rio
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Del Rio is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rio
- Stewart
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stewart is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart
- Salida
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Riverbank
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Adela
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Adela is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adela
- Modesto
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Oakdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- East Oakdale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- East Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Oakdale
- Bystrom
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bystrom is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bystrom
- West Modesto
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- West Modesto is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Modesto
- Bret Harte
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
- Empire
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Avena, see our County-by-County Page for Avena.
Cemeteries Near Avena ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Avena.
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 Avena - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Avena covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Avena, with the one closest to Avena listed first.
- St. Johns Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Atlanta Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Highland View Memorial Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Collegeville Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ripon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Valley Home Memorial Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Burwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Park View Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- East Union Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Woodcolony Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcolony Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodcolony Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Modesto.
- Langworth Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (32 more) ...
- Congregation Adas Yeshuran of Stockton Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Congregation of Ahavas Achim Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Ahayas Achim Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
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 Avena in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Avena.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Avena, with the one closest to Avena listed first.
- Atlanta
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Atlanta is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta
- Trigo ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Trigo is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigo
- Cometa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Cometa is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cometa
- Collegeville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Collegeville is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collegeville
- Ripon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <1>
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Holden ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Holden is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holden
- Salida
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Peters
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Walthal
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Walthal is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walthal
- Charleston ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Charleston is located in San Joaquin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
- French Camp
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Lathrop
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Linden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Modesto
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Avena. See our List of 1890's Communities around Avena.
Newspapers Published in Avena ...
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 142 newspapers that have been published in the area around Avena.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Avena, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Avena.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Avena:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to San Joaquin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Amador County
- Calaveras County
- Contra Costa County
- Stanislaus County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Avena) 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 Avena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |