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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 Cow Creek (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 Cow Creek. 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 Cow Creek ...

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.

Another variation: Cowcreek.

  • A typical abbreviation for Cow Creek: Cow Crk. (or less commonly used: Cow Ck. or Cow Cr.)

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

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

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

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

  • Tuolumne County     (The home county of Cow Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cow Creek, with the one closest to Cow Creek listed first.
    • Bumblebee
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Bumblebee is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumblebee
    • Pinecrest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Strawberry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Strawberry is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Cold Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dardanelle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Barn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sierra Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Sierra Village is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sierra Village
    • Mi-Wuk Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Twain Harte
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Ridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Ridge is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Ridge
    • Cedar Rock Lodge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Rock Lodge is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock Lodge
    • Mono Vista
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Mono Vista is located in Tuolumne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mono Vista
  • Alpine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cow Creek, with the one closest to Cow Creek listed first.
    • Bear Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Lake Alpine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Lake Alpine is located in Alpine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Alpine
  • Amador County
  • Calaveras County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cow Creek, with the one closest to Cow Creek listed first.
    • Big Meadow
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Big Meadow is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Meadow
    • Big Trees Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Big Trees Village is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees Village
    • Dorrington
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Camp Connell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Big Trees
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Big Trees is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees
    • Pinebrook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Pinebrook is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebrook
    • Arnold
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Fly-In Acres
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Fly-In Acres is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fly-In Acres
    • Avery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Hathaway Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Lakemont Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lakemont Pines is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakemont Pines
    • Meadowmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Meadowmont is located in Calaveras County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowmont
  • Mono County
    • Sonora Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Sonora Junction is located in Mono County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora Junction

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

Cemeteries Near Cow Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cow Creek.

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 Cow Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Cherokee Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cherokee Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of Tuolumne.
    • The Cherokee Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Arastraville Cemetery
    • Cherokee Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2216200 <3>
  • Carter's Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter's Cemetery
    • 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 Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1103592 <3>
  • Tuolumne Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Public Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mountain Shadow Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Shaws Flat Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sonora City Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
    • 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
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Masonic Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Vallecito Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Maidens Gravesite
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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 Cow Creek in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cow Creek.

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

  • Big Trees
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Big Trees is located in Calaveras County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Trees
  • Avery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Soulsbyville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Tuolumne
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Sheep Ranch
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Murphys
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Douglas Flat
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Columbia
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sonora
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Rail Road Flat
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Mountain Ranch
    (29 miles [46.7 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 Cow Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cow Creek.

Newspapers Published in Cow Creek ...

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 Cow Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cow Creek, 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 Cow Creek.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Cow Creek:

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 '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- Cow Creek) 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 Cow Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.