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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 Browns Flat (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 Browns Flat. 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 Browns Flat ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Browns Flat: Browns Flt.
  • While the name of this community is Browns Flat, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Browns Flat may originally have been Brown's Flat.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Browns Flat might be written as Brown Flat.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Browns Flat is located in Tuolumne 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 Tuolumne County: Alpine, Calaveras, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono & Stanislaus.

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

  • Tuolumne County     (The home county of Browns Flat)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Flat, with the one closest to Browns Flat listed first.
    • Squabbletown
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squabbletown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squabbletown
      • Squabbletown is located in Tuolumne County
    • Martinez
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinez have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
      • Martinez is located in Tuolumne County
    • Columbia Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia Village
      • Columbia Village is located in Tuolumne County
    • Sonora
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Greenley Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenley Oaks
      • Greenley Oaks is located in Tuolumne County
    • Columbia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • East Sonora
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Sonora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sonora
      • East Sonora is located in Tuolumne County
    • Peaceful Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceful Valley
      • Peaceful Valley is located in Tuolumne County
    • Mono Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mono Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mono Village
      • Mono Village is located in Tuolumne County
    • Jamestown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Phoenix Lake - Cedar Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Phoenix Lake - Cedar Ridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix Lake - Cedar Ridge
      • Phoenix Lake - Cedar Ridge is located in Tuolumne County
    • Standard
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rawhide
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide
      • Rawhide is located in Tuolumne County
  • Amador County
    • Electra ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Electra have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Electra
      • Electra is located in Amador County
  • Calaveras County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Flat, with the one closest to Browns Flat listed first.
    • Melones ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melones have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melones
      • Melones is located in Calaveras County
    • Vallecito
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas Flat
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Angels Camp
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Murphys
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Altaville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Angels City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angels City came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels City
      • Angels City is located in Calaveras County
    • Angels
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angels have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angels
      • Angels is located in Calaveras County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,963 people
    • Cedar Vista
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Vista
      • Cedar Vista is located in Calaveras County
    • Forest Meadows
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Meadows
      • Forest Meadows is located in Calaveras County
    • The Shores of Poker Flat
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Avery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Copper Cove Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copper Cove Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Cove Village
      • Copper Cove Village is located in Calaveras County
  • Mariposa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Flat, with the one closest to Browns Flat listed first.
    • Coulterville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dogtown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dogtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
      • Dogtown is located in Mariposa County
    • Bagby ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bagby. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagby
      • Bagby is located in Mariposa County
  • Stanislaus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Flat, with the one closest to Browns Flat listed first.
    • Knights Ferry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • La Grange
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • East Oakdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Oakdale
      • East Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
    • Adela
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adela
      • Adela is located in Stanislaus County
    • Oakdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Oakdale is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,228 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <3>

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

Newspapers Published in Browns Flat ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Browns Flat.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Browns Flat, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Browns Flat.

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 Browns Flat:

Cemeteries Near Browns Flat ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Browns Flat.

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

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

  • Shaws Flat Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shaws Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shaws Flat Cemetery
  • Sonora City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sonora City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sonora City Cemetery
  • Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Sonora Hebrew Cemetery is located in Sonora.
    • The Sonora Hebrew Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pioneer Jewish Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jewish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jewish Cemetery
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Masonic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Masonic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Masonic Cemetery
  • Mountain Shadow Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • Public Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Public Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Public Cemetery
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • Jamestown Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jamestown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jamestown Cemetery
  • Stent Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Stent Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Stent
    • The Stent Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Poverty Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stent Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2229117 <7>
  • Continue List   (26 more) ...
    • Cherokee Memorial Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Vallecito Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Carter's Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Carter's Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Tuolumne.
      • The Carter's Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Tuolumne City Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter's Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1103592 <7>

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.<8>

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

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

  • Sonora
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Columbia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Jamestown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tuttletown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuttletown
    • Tuttletown is located in Tuolumne County
  • Soulsbyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Tuolumne
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Douglas Flat
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Chinese Camp
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Murphys
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Angels Camp
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Avery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Sheep Ranch
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

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

The official website for Tuolumne County: www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Browns Flat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Browns Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0038, Longitude: -120.3852       In this case, the coordinates for Browns Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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.
<8>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 Browns Flat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024