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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 Bonanza Springs (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 Bonanza Springs. 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 Bonanza Springs ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bonanza Springs: Bonanza Spgs. (or less commonly used: Bonanza Spngs. or Bonanza Sprngs.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bonanza Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bonanza Springs.

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 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.

Bonanza Springs is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma & Yolo.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Bonanza Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Seigler Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Seigler Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seigler Springs
    • Cobb
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Salminas Resort
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Salminas Resort is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salminas Resort
    • Pine Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Grove is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
    • Glenbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Glenview
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenview is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
    • Lower Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clearlake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Clearlake Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hidden Valley Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Hidden Valley Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Valley Lake
    • Middletown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Soda Bay
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Clearlake Oaks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Colusa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Wilbur Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Leesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Leesville is located in Colusa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
  • Mendocino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Hopland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Largo ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Largo is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Yorkville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Woodleaf
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Woodleaf is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
    • Calistoga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Pope Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Angwin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Deer Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Helena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Las Putas ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Las Putas is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Putas
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Mercuryville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Mercuryville is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercuryville
    • Geyserville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellogg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Kellogg is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
    • Camp Rose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Camp Rose is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rose
    • Cloverdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Preston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Preston is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Healdsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Mark West Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Mark West Springs is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark West Springs
    • Windsor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Fulton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Trenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Trenton is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Forestville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Melita
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Melita is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
  • Yolo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bonanza Springs, with the one closest to Bonanza Springs listed first.
    • Rumsey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Guinda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Brooks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Bonanza Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bonanza Springs.

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 Bonanza Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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.<4>

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

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

  • Glenbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
  • Lower Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Middletown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Kelseyville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Highland Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Highland Springs is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Springs
  • Geyserville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Asti
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Asti is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asti
  • Kellogg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Kellogg is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
  • Lakeport
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cloverdale
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Knoxville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Knoxville is located in Napa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
  • Preston
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Preston is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Calistoga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hough Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Hough Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hough Springs
    • Pieta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Pieta is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieta

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

Newspapers Published in Bonanza Springs ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bonanza Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bonanza Springs, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bonanza Springs.

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 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 Bonanza Springs:

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>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- Bonanza Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Bonanza Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.