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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 El Mirage (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 El Mirage. 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.

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 and doctors 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.

El Mirage is located in San Bernardino 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 Bernardino County: La Paz (AZ), Mohave (AZ), Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside & Clark (NV).

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

  • San Bernardino County     (The home county of El Mirage)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Mirage, with the one closest to El Mirage listed first.
    • Pinon Hills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Adelanto
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelanto
      • Adelanto is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,537 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adelanto <1>
    • Phelan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • South Adelanto
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Adelanto
      • South Adelanto is located in San Bernardino County
    • La Delta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Delta
      • La Delta is located in San Bernardino County
    • Oro Grande
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Wrightwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Mountain View
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
      • Mountain View is located in San Bernardino County
    • The Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
      • The Village is located in San Bernardino County
    • Mountain View Acres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Acres
      • Mountain View Acres is located in San Bernardino County
    • Victorville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Helendale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Kern County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Mirage, with the one closest to El Mirage listed first.
    • Boron
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Edwards
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Los Angeles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Mirage, with the one closest to El Mirage listed first.
    • Lake Los Angeles
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Wilsona Gardens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsona Gardens
      • Wilsona Gardens is located in Los Angeles County
    • Llano Del Rio ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Del Rio
      • Llano Del Rio is located in Los Angeles County
    • Llano
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Pines
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Pines
      • Big Pines is located in Los Angeles County
    • Big Rock Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock Springs
      • Big Rock Springs is located in Los Angeles County
    • Valyermo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Paradise Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Springs
      • Paradise Springs is located in Los Angeles County
    • Pearblossom
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Juniper Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Hills
      • Juniper Hills is located in Los Angeles County
    • Littlerock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Falling Springs ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Falling Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Springs
      • Falling Springs is located in Los Angeles County
      • Former names for Falling Springs:
      • Cienega Canyon
      • Falling Springs Resort
      • Hedlees Resort
      • La Cienega

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

Cemeteries Near El Mirage ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El Mirage.

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 El Mirage covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • United Islamic Youth Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the United Islamic Youth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the United Islamic Youth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oro Grande Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oro Grande Cemetery
    • The Oro Grande Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lieutenant Manuel Rodriguez Memorial Park
    • Oro Grande Historic Memorial Park
    • Rodigues Cemetery
    • Rodriguez Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2181852 <4>
  • Desert View Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Victor Valley Memorial Park
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Palmdale Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palmdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palmdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Desert Lawn Memorial Park
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Sunset Hills Memorial Park
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Kramer Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Joshua Memorial Park
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Lancaster Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 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.<5>

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

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

  • Llano
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oro Grande
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Hesperia
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperia
    • Hesperia is located in San Bernardino County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 96,911 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperia <1>
  • Cajon
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cajon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cajon
    • Cajon is located in San Bernardino County
  • Harold
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harold. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harold
    • Harold is located in Los Angeles County
  • Kramer
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kramer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kramer
    • Kramer is located in San Bernardino County
  • Palmdale
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmdale
    • Palmdale is located in Los Angeles County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 150,498 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmdale <1>
  • Alpine ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Alpine is located in Los Angeles County
  • Vincent
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vincent
    • Vincent is located in Los Angeles County
  • Lancaster
    (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 El Mirage. See our List of 1890's Communities around El Mirage.

Newspapers Published in El Mirage ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Mirage.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of El Mirage, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for El Mirage.

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 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 El Mirage:

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

The official website for San Bernardino County: www.sbcounty.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>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.
<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 El Mirage, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- El Mirage) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in El Mirage. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6022, Longitude: -117.6312       In this case, the coordinates for El Mirage have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025