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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 Ballard (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 Ballard. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ballard is located in Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara County: Kern, San Luis Obispo & Ventura.

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

  • Santa Barbara County     (The home county of Ballard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard, with the one closest to Ballard listed first.
    • Los Olivos
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Santa Ynez
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Solvang
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solvang
      • Solvang is located in Santa Barbara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,556 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Solvang <1>
    • Buellton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cachuma Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cachuma Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cachuma Village
      • Cachuma Village is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Los Alamos
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Capitan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitan
      • Capitan is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Naples ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Naples is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Mission Hills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
      • Mission Hills is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Lompoc
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompoc
      • Lompoc is located in Santa Barbara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 42,253 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lompoc <1>
    • Garey
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garey
      • Garey is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Isla Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Ballard ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ballard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ballard, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ballard.

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 Ballard:

  • Genealogy information for nearby counties

Cemeteries Near Ballard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ballard.

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

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

  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Hill Cemetery is located in Ballard.
    • The Oak Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8210 <4>
  • Solvang Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Solvang Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Solvang Cemetery
  • Los Alamos Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Los Alamos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Alamos Cemetery
  • Foxen Canyon Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foxen Canyon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foxen Canyon Cemetery
  • Mission La Purisima Concepcion Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Mission La Purisima Concepcion Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mission La Purisima Concepcion Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southwest of Lompoc.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission La Purisima Concepcion Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2220938 <4>
  • Ontiveros Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ontiveros Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ontiveros Cemetery
  • Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery
  • Ryon Memorial Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Goleta Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goleta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goleta Cemetery
  • La Patera Catholic Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Patera Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Patera Catholic Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Maria Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Maria Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Maria 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ballard had a population of 108 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Santa Ynez
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Los Olivos
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Nojoqui
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nojoqui have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nojoqui
    • Nojoqui is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Los Alamos
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sisquoc
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sisquoc have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sisquoc
    • Sisquoc is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Naples ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
    • Naples is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Ellwood
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellwood
    • Ellwood is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Lompoc
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompoc
    • Lompoc is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 42,253 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lompoc <1>
  • La Patera
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Patera have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Patera
    • La Patera is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Garey
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garey
    • Garey is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Goleta
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goleta
    • Goleta is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Estimated population in 2015: 30,944 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goleta <1>
  • Santa Barbara
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Maria
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

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

The official website for Santa Barbara County: www.countyofsb.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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ballard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ballard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6358, Longitude: -120.1135    
<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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>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 Ballard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024