RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Plumas County >> Bucks Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Bucks Lake (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 Bucks Lake. 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 Bucks Lake ...

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.

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

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bucks Lake might be written as Buck Lake.

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.

Bucks Lake is located in Plumas 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 Plumas County: Butte, Lassen, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Plumas County     (The home county of Bucks Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bucks Lake, with the one closest to Bucks Lake listed first.
    • Meadow Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Silver Creek ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Silver Creek is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
    • Spanish Ranch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
    • Storrie
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Tobin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Tobin is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobin
    • Belden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Rich Bar ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Rich Bar is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Bar
    • Twain
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Quincy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Caribou
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Caribou is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
    • East Quincy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • East Quincy is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Quincy
    • Keddie
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Keddie is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keddie
    • Little Grass Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Little Grass Valley is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Grass Valley
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bucks Lake, with the one closest to Bucks Lake listed first.
    • Merrimac
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Merrimac is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
    • Brush Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
    • Big Bar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Big Bar is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
    • Pulga
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
    • Big Bend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Big Bend is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
    • Stirling City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Feather Falls
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Berry Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Inskip ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Inskip is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inskip
    • Concow
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Concow is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concow
    • Powellton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Powellton is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
    • Magalia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Lassen County
    • Peninsula Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Peninsula Village is located in Lassen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Village
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bucks Lake, with the one closest to Bucks Lake listed first.
    • Gibsonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
    • Queen City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Queen City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
    • Poker Flat
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
    • Goodyears Bar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Downieville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bucks Lake, with the one closest to Bucks Lake listed first.
    • Strawberry Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Challenge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Depot Hill ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
    • Brownsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Camptonville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
    • Rackerby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Bucks Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bucks Lake.

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 Bucks Lake - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bucks Lake, with the one closest to Bucks Lake 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.<5>

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

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

  • Meadow Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Spanish Ranch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
  • Merrimac
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Merrimac is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
  • Quincy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Brush Creek
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
  • La Porte
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Gibsonville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
  • Big Bend
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Bend is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
  • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
  • Saint Louis
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Louis is located in Sierra County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Louis
  • Longville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Longville is located in Plumas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longville
  • Inskip ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Inskip is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inskip
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Powellton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Powellton is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
    • Lovelock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lovelock is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelock
    • Magalia
      (21 miles [33.8 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 Bucks Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bucks Lake.

Newspapers Published in Bucks Lake ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bucks Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bucks Lake, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bucks Lake.

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 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 Bucks Lake:

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bucks Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Bucks Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.