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The Commemorative Quarter for California





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 Bella Vista (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 Bella Vista. 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 and doctors 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.

Bella Vista is located in Kern 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 Kern County: Inyo, Kings, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare & Ventura.

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

  • Kern County     (The home county of Bella Vista)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bella Vista, with the one closest to Bella Vista listed first.
    • South Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lake
      • South Lake is located in Kern County
    • Weldon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mountain Mesa
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Squirrel Mountain Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Onyx
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Isabella ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabella have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
      • Isabella is located in Kern County
    • Wofford Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Kernville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Isabella
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Rogersville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
      • Rogersville is located in Kern County
    • Bodfish
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Keyesville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyesville
      • Keyesville is located in Kern County
      • Former names for Keyesville:
      • Hogeye
      • Keysville
    • Silver City ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Kern County
  • Inyo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bella Vista, with the one closest to Bella Vista listed first.
    • Pearsonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearsonville
      • Pearsonville is located in Inyo County
    • Linnie ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linnie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linnie
      • Linnie is located in Inyo County
    • Narka ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Narka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narka
      • Narka is located in Inyo County
    • Little Lake ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bella Vista, with the one closest to Bella Vista listed first.
    • South Lake
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lake
      • South Lake is located in Tulare County
    • Panorama Heights
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Heights
      • Panorama Heights is located in Tulare County
    • Poso Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poso Park
      • Poso Park is located in Tulare County
    • Roads End ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roads End
      • Roads End is located in Tulare County
      • Former name for Roads End:
      • Pascoe's Pack Station
      • Roads End has also been known as:
      • Roads End Resort
    • Sugarloaf Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarloaf Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Village
      • Sugarloaf Village is located in Tulare County
    • Posey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Flat
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Flat
      • Pine Flat is located in Tulare County
    • California Hot Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bella Vista ...

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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bella Vista.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bella Vista, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bella Vista.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Bella Vista:

Cemeteries Near Bella Vista ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bella Vista.

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

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

  • Pauls Place Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Onyx Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Onyx Indian Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Onyx.
    • The Onyx Indian Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Indian Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Onyx Indian Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8065 <5>
  • Cottage Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kern River Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kern River Valley Cemetery is located between<6> the communities of Wofford Heights and Kernville.  The cemetery lies less than 2 miles<4> to the northeast of Wofford Heights.
    • The Kern River Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Kernville Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kern River Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8092 <5>
  • Palmer Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Keyesville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Sageland Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Havilah Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Havilah Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Havilah
    • The Old Havilah Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Havilah Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Havilah Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1982323 <5>
  • Williams Gravesite
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Rankin Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Owens Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Josie Bishop Gravesite
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Blue Mtn. Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Weringer Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 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.<7>

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

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

  • Weldon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Onyx
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kernville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Havilah
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havilah
    • Havilah is located in Kern County
  • Freeman ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Freeman is located in Kern County
  • Woody
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

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

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

The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.ca.us/

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>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Bella Vista) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bella Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6525, Longitude: -118.3235    
<5>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.
<6>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Wofford Heights and Kernville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<7>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 Bella Vista, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024