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 Pine (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 Pine. 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.
Name Variations for Big Pine ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.
Prior to its current name of Big Pine, it was known as Bigpine.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Big Pine is located in Inyo 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 Inyo County: Fresno, Kern, Mono, San Bernardino, Tulare, Clark (NV), Esmeralda (NV) & Nye (NV).
Below are the counties that are near Big Pine. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Pine:
- Inyo County (The home county of Big Pine)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Pine, with the one closest to Big Pine listed first.
- Zurich ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
- Zurich is located in Inyo County
- Zurich has also been known as:
- Zurich Station
- Monola ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Fish Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Springs
- Fish Springs is located in Inyo County
- Fish Springs has also been known as:
- Tinemaha
- Tinnemaha
- Elna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Sage Flat
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Keough Hot Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keough Hot Springs
- Keough Hot Springs is located in Inyo County
- Glacier Lodge ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glacier Lodge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glacier Lodge
- Glacier Lodge is located in Inyo County
- Wilkerson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkerson
- Wilkerson is located in Inyo County
- Bigelow ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north) - Peterson Mill ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson Mill
- Peterson Mill is located in Inyo County
- Aberdeen Station ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aberdeen Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen Station
- Aberdeen Station is located in Inyo County
- Poleta ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poleta
- Poleta is located in Inyo County
- Aberdeen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
- Aberdeen is located in Inyo County
- Fresno County
- Kanawyers ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawyers
- Kanawyers is located in Fresno County
- Kanawyers ‑ Historic
- Mono County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Pine, with the one closest to Big Pine listed first.
- Chalfant Valley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfant Valley
- Chalfant Valley is located in Mono County
- Mesa Camp
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa Camp
- Mesa Camp is located in Mono County
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Pine, see our County-by-County Page for Big Pine.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Big Pine ...
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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Pine.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Big Pine. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Big Pine and those printed in the larger area surrounding Big Pine.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3> of Big Pine.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Big Pine:
- Websites specific to California
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the California State Archives
- Pages specific to Inyo County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fresno County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Mono County
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Fresno County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of California
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of California
- Cemeteries of Inyo County
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of California
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of California
- Cemeteries of Inyo County
Cemeteries Near Big Pine ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Pine.
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 Pine covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Pine, with the one closest to Big Pine listed first.
- Big Pine Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Big Pine Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Big Pine.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Pine Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #730300 <4>
- Woodman Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodman Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Big Pine.
- The Woodman Cemetery has also been known as:
- Woodman of the World Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodman Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2473277 <4>
- Sunland Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Sunland Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Bishop.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunland Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8387 <4>
- East Line Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- To give a relative sense of its location, the East Line Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Bishop.
- The East Line Cemetery has also been known as:
- East Line Street Cemetery
- Line Street Cemetery
- Masonic Cemetery
- Odd Fellows & Masonic Cemetery
- Oddfellows & Masonic Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Line Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7943 <4>
- West Line Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- To give a relative sense of its location, the West Line Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Bishop.
- The West Line Cemetery has also been known as:
- Pioneer Cemetery
- West Line Street Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Line Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8276 <4>
- Camp Independence Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Camp Independence Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Camp Independence Cemetery is located in Independence.
- The Camp Independence Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ft. Independence Cemetery
- Indian Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2217265 <4>
- Old Independence Cemetery
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Independence Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Independence.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8231 <4>
- Independence Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Independence Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Independence.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Independence Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8058 <4>
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 Big Pine had a population of 147 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Pine, with the one closest to Big Pine listed first.
- Zurich ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
- Zurich is located in Inyo County
- Zurich has also been known as:
- Zurich Station
- Aberdeen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
- Aberdeen is located in Inyo County
- Bishop
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
- Bishop is located in Inyo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,778 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bishop <6>
- Laws
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laws
- Laws is located in Inyo County
- Former name for Laws:
- Bishop Depot
- San Carlos ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for San Carlos. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
- San Carlos is located in Inyo County
- Round Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Valley
- Round Valley is located in Inyo County
- Independence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Inyo County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <6>
- Bend City ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south) - Kearsarge ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Kearsarge is located in Inyo County
- Former names for Kearsarge:
- Citrus
- Kearsarge Station
- Kearsarge ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Kearsarge is located in Inyo County
- Former names for Kearsarge:
- Citrus
- Kearsarge Station
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Pine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Pine.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Pine. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Inyo County: www.inyocounty.us/
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> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Big Pine) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Pine. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1649, Longitude: -118.2895 |
| <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 Pine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |