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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 Balboa Ferry (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 Balboa Ferry. 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.

Balboa Ferry is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino & San Diego.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of Balboa Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balboa Ferry, with the one closest to Balboa Ferry listed first.
    • Balboa Island
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Corona del Mar
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Costa Mesa
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Newport Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Newport Coast
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Newport Coast is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport Coast
    • San Joaquin Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • San Joaquin Hills is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Joaquin Hills
    • Santa Ana Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fountain Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Huntington Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Laguna Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Irvine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Santa Ana
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • East Irvine
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • East Irvine is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Irvine
  • Los Angeles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balboa Ferry, with the one closest to Balboa Ferry listed first.
    • Naples
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Naples is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
    • Belmont Shore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hawaiian Gardens
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Los Altos
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Los Altos is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Altos
    • Cerritos
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Artesia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Artesia is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artesia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Artesia <1>
    • Cambodia Town
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cambodia Town is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambodia Town
    • Long Beach
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Signal Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Carmenita
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Carmenita is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmenita
    • East La Mirada
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • East La Mirada is located in Los Angeles County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East La Mirada
    • La Mirada
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Bellflower
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Riverside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balboa Ferry, with the one closest to Balboa Ferry listed first.
    • Corona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Corona is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170,996 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corona <1>
    • El Cerrito
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • El Cerrito is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Cerrito
    • Temescal
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Temescal is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temescal
    • Home Gardens
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Home Gardens is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Gardens
    • Porphyry ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Porphyry is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porphyry
    • Norco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Norco is located in Riverside County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,892 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norco <1>
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balboa Ferry, with the one closest to Balboa Ferry listed first.
    • Los Serranos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Los Serranos is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Serranos
    • Chino Hills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Chino
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Chino is located in San Bernardino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chino
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chino <1>
  • San Diego County

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

Cemeteries Near Balboa Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Balboa Ferry.

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 Balboa Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pacific View Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Harbor Lawn - Mt. Olive Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Good Shepherd Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Shepherd Cemetery
    • The Good Shepherd Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Huntington Beach Cemetery
    • Roselawn Cemetery
  • The Good Shepherd Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Westminster Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Ana Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Ana Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Ana Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The Santa Ana Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8351 <2>
  • Fairhaven Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • El Toro Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Ascension Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The St. John's Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New St. John Lutheran Cemetery
    • New St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • St. Johns Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8324 <2>
  • Magnolia Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Melrose Abbey Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Mission Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Holy Cross Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Newport Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Irvine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Ana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Bolsa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Bolsa is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolsa
  • Garden Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Westminster
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Orange
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • El Modena
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • El Modena is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Modena
  • McPherson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • McPherson is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherson
  • Marlboro
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Marlboro is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
  • Miraflores
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Miraflores is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miraflores
  • Anaheim
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Villa Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wanda ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Wanda is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wanda
    • Brookhurst
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Brookhurst is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhurst

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

Newspapers Published in Balboa Ferry ...

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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around Balboa Ferry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Balboa Ferry, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Balboa Ferry.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Balboa Ferry:

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 Balboa Ferry, 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 from Point A (ie- Balboa Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.