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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 Desert Lodge (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 Desert Lodge. 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 Desert Lodge ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Desert Lodge: Desert Ldg. (or less commonly used: Desert Ldge.)

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 and 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.

Desert Lodge is located in San Diego 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 San Diego County: Imperial, Orange & Riverside.

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

  • San Diego County     (The home county of Desert Lodge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Desert Lodge, with the one closest to Desert Lodge listed first.
    • Borrego Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ranchita
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchita
      • Ranchita is located in San Diego County
    • Ocotillo Wells
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocotillo Wells
      • Ocotillo Wells is located in San Diego County
    • Banner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner
      • Banner is located in San Diego County
    • Julian
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Warner Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Cuyamaca ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuyamaca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyamaca
      • Cuyamaca is located in San Diego County
    • Stonewall ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stonewall. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
      • Stonewall is located in San Diego County
    • Santa Ysabel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Laguna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Holcomb Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holcomb Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holcomb Village
      • Holcomb Village is located in San Diego County
    • Mesa Grande ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa Grande
      • Mesa Grande is located in San Diego County
  • Imperial County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Desert Lodge, with the one closest to Desert Lodge listed first.
    • Coolidge Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolidge Springs
      • Coolidge Springs is located in Imperial County
    • Desert Shores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Desert Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desert Shores
      • Desert Shores is located in Imperial County
    • Salton Sea Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salton Sea Beach
      • Salton Sea Beach is located in Imperial County
    • Salton City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Riverside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Desert Lodge, with the one closest to Desert Lodge listed first.
    • Oasis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oasis
      • Oasis is located in Riverside County
    • Martinez
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinez
      • Martinez is located in Riverside County
    • Pinyon Pines
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinyon Pines
      • Pinyon Pines is located in Riverside County
    • Alpine Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine Village
      • Alpine Village is located in Riverside County
    • Mecca
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandy Korner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Korner
      • Sandy Korner is located in Riverside County

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

Cemeteries Near Desert Lodge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Desert Lodge.

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 Desert Lodge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Julian Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Julian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Julian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Martinez Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Martinez Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Martinez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Torres Martinez Reservation Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Toro Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Toro Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Toro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

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

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

  • Ranchita
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchita
    • Ranchita is located in San Diego County
  • Banner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner
    • Banner is located in San Diego County
  • Julian
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Wynola
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynola
    • Wynola is located in San Diego County
  • Santa Ysabel
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Cuyamaca ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuyamaca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuyamaca
    • Cuyamaca is located in San Diego County
  • Mesa Grande ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa Grande
    • Mesa Grande is located in San Diego County
  • Ballena
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ballena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballena
    • Ballena is located in San Diego County
  • Descanso
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Grove
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Oak Grove is located in San Diego County

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

Newspapers Published in Desert Lodge ...

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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Desert Lodge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Desert Lodge, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Desert Lodge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Desert Lodge:

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

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/

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

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 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>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Desert Lodge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Desert Lodge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.2106, Longitude: -116.3272       In this case, the coordinates for Desert Lodge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Desert Lodge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025