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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 Big Bend (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 Big Bend. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Big Bend is located in Butte 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 Butte County: Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama & Yuba.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Big Bend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Bend.

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

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

  • Clarks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cherokee Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oregon City Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Flat Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Flat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nicholl Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Centerville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Centerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coutolenc Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coutolenc Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coutolenc Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oroville Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oroville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oroville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (39 more) ...
    • Memorial Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Durham Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Durham Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Durham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Forest Ranch Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Ranch Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Big Bend had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Yankee Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
    • Yankee Hill is located in Butte County
  • Cherokee ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cherokee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
    • Cherokee is located in Butte County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cherokee
    • From Big Bend to Cherokee
  • Brush Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Pentz
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pentz have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentz
    • Pentz is located in Butte County
  • Merrimac
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Merrimac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
    • Merrimac is located in Butte County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Merrimac
    • From Big Bend to Merrimac
  • Paradise
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Magalia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Enterprise ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Enterprise is located in Butte County
  • Oroville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Nimshew
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hurleton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurleton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurleton
    • Hurleton is located in Butte County
  • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lumpkin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
    • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lumpkin
    • From Big Bend to Lumpkin
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lovelock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovelock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelock
      • Lovelock is located in Butte County
    • Wyandotte
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wyandotte. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
      • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wyandotte
      • From Big Bend to Wyandotte
    • Powellton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Powellton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
      • Powellton is located in Butte County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Powellton
      • From Big Bend to Powellton

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

Newspapers Published in Big Bend ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Bend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Bend, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Bend.

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 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 Big Bend:

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

The official website for Butte County: www.buttecounty.net/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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>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 Big Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Big Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6986, Longitude: -121.4603    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025