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 Crystal 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 Crystal 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 Crystal 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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Crystal Lake: Crystal Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Crystal Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Crystal 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 northwest 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 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.
Crystal Lake is located in Nevada 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 Nevada County: Placer, Sierra, Yuba & Washoe (NV).
Below are the counties that are near Crystal Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Crystal Lake:
- Nevada County (The home county of Crystal Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Baltimore Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Baltimore Town is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore Town
- Meadow Lake ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Meadow Lake is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
- Summit City ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Summit City is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit City
- Kingvale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Kingvale is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingvale
- Soda Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Marsh Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marsh Mill is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Mill
- Norden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Graniteville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Washington
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Donner Woods
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Donner Woods is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner Woods
- Donner Lake Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Donner Lake Village is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner Lake Village
- Donner Lake Village has also been known as:
- Donner Lake
- North Bloomfield ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- North Bloomfield is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bloomfield
- El Dorado County
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Quintette
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Quintette is located in El Dorado County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
- Tahoma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Placer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Big Bend
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Big Bend is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
- Emigrant Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Donner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Donner is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner
- Casa Loma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Casa Loma is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
- Soda Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Soda Springs is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soda Springs
- Last Chance ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Last Chance is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
- Alta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Andover ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Andover is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
- Greekstore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Greekstore is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greekstore
- Dutch Flat
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gold Run
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Secret Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Secret Town is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
- Plumas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Whitehawk
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Whitehawk is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehawk
- Valley Ranch
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Valley Ranch is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Ranch
- Clio
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- C-Road
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- C-Road is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for C-Road
- Graeagle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Johnsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Plumas Eureka
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Plumas Eureka is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumas Eureka
- Shasta County
- Bear Valley ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Sierra County
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Loganville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Loganville is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganville
- Sierra City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Alleghany
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Forest
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Forest is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
- Sattley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Sierraville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Downieville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Goodyears Bar
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Calpine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Brandy City ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Brandy City is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
- Poker Flat
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
- Loyalton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Yuba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Camptonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Depot Hill ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
- Garden Valley ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
- Foster Bar ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
- Washoe County (NV)
- Crystal Bay
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Crystal Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Crystal Lake.
Cemeteries Near Crystal Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Crystal 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 Crystal Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Crystal Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Dutch Flat Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Flat Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta
- Sierra City Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Alleghany Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pioneer Grove Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Forest City Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Truckee Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Sierraville Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Iowa Hill Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Deadwood Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Downieville Cemetery
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sattley Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Goodyears Bar Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (24 more) ...
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Deer Creek Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Deer Creek Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Nevada City.
- The Deer Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
- New Odd Fellows Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400769 <2>
- Forest View Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
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 Crystal Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Crystal Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Crystal Lake, with the one closest to Crystal Lake listed first.
- Cisco
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cisco is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
- Emigrant Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Maybert ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Maybert is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maybert
- Blue Canyon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Canyon is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Canyon
- Westville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Westville is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
- Graniteville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Graniteville is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
- Washington
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Towle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Towle is located in Placer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towle
- Alta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dutch Flat
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Moore's Flat
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Moore's Flat is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore's Flat
- Sierra City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Alleghany
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- North Bloomfield ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- North Bloomfield is located in Nevada County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bloomfield
- Gold Run
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Crystal Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Crystal Lake.
Newspapers Published in Crystal 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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Crystal Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Crystal Lake, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Crystal Lake.
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 helpful 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 Crystal Lake:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Nevada County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- El Dorado County
- Placer County
- Plumas County
- Shasta County
- Sierra County
- Yuba County
- Washoe County
- 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Crystal Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Crystal Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |