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 Cottonwood Estates (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 Cottonwood Estates. 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 Cottonwood Estates ...
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 Cottonwood Estates: Cottonwood Ests.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Cottonwood Estates. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Cottonwood Estates.
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 hospitals 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.
Cottonwood Estates is located in Shasta 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 Shasta County: Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Tehama & Trinity.
Below are the counties that are near Cottonwood Estates. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cottonwood Estates:
- Shasta County (The home county of Cottonwood Estates)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Estates, with the one closest to Cottonwood Estates listed first.
- Cottonwood
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Anderson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Anderson is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,565 people
- Former name for Anderson:
- American Ranch
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <1>
- Balls Ferry ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Balls Ferry is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balls Ferry
- Battle Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Battle Creek is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battle Creek
- Clarkville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Clarkville is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkville
- Parkville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Parkville is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkville
- Happy Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Happy Valley is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Former name for Happy Valley:
- Oak
- Latona ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Latona is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latona
- Former name for Latona:
- New Town
- Olinda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Olinda is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinda
- Pacheco
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pacheco is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacheco
- Bell's Bridge ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bell's Bridge is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell's Bridge
- Redding Rancheria
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Redding Rancheria is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding Rancheria
- Girvan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Girvan is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
- Tehama County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cottonwood Estates, with the one closest to Cottonwood Estates listed first.
- Hooker
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hooker is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Bend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Bend is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bend
- Dales
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dales is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dales
- Red Bluff
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Paynes Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Rawson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Rawson is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawson
- Manton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Proberta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Gerber
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Dantuma Place
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Dantuma Place is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dantuma Place
- Los Molinos
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Rancho Tehama Reserve
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tehama
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cottonwood Estates, see our County-by-County Page for Cottonwood Estates.
Cemeteries Near Cottonwood Estates ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cottonwood Estates.
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 Cottonwood Estates - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cottonwood Estates covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cottonwood Estates, with the one closest to Cottonwood Estates listed first.
- Cottonwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Anderson Pioneer Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Pioneer Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Anderson Pioneer Cemetery is located in Anderson.
- The Anderson Pioneer Cemetery has also been known as:
- Oddfellows Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2231350 <2>
- Anderson District Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Major Pierson B. Reading Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Parkville Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Parkville Pioneer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cloverdale Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bates Pioneer Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- IOOF Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Millville IOOF Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Masonic Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Texas Springs Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (35 more) ...
- Pinckney Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lawncrest Memorial Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Cottonwood Estates in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cottonwood Estates.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cottonwood Estates, with the one closest to Cottonwood Estates listed first.
- Cottonwood
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Anderson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Anderson is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,565 people
- Former name for Anderson:
- American Ranch
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <1>
- Balls Ferry ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Balls Ferry is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balls Ferry
- Hooker
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hooker is located in Tehama County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Olinda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Olinda is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinda
- Girvan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Girvan is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girvan
- Millville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Gas Point ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gas Point is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas Point
- Red Bluff
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Redding
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Waugh ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Waugh is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Igo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Buckeye
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Buckeye is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
- Inwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Inwood is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inwood
- Shasta
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cottonwood Estates. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cottonwood Estates.
Newspapers Published in Cottonwood Estates ...
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 Cottonwood Estates.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cottonwood Estates, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cottonwood Estates.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Cottonwood Estates:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Shasta County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Cottonwood Estates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Cottonwood Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |