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 Sur (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 Sur. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
El Sur is located in Monterey 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 Monterey County: Fresno, Kings, San Benito, San Luis Obispo & Santa Cruz.
Below are the counties that are near El Sur. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to El Sur:
- Monterey County (The home county of El Sur)
- The following are listed by their distance from El Sur, with the one closest to El Sur listed first.
- Big Sur
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Posts
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posts
- Posts is located in Monterey County
- Carmel Valley Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Carmel Highlands
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Highlands
- Carmel Highlands is located in Monterey County
- Carmelito ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carmelito. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmelito
- Carmelito is located in Monterey County
- Carmel-by-the-Sea
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Pebble Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Ambler Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambler Park
- Ambler Park is located in Monterey County
- Del Monte Forest
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Monte Forest
- Del Monte Forest is located in Monterey County
- Del Rey Oaks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey Oaks
- Del Rey Oaks is located in Monterey County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,645 people
- Monterey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Seaside
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Fort Ord Village ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Ord Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ord Village
- Fort Ord Village is located in Monterey County
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to El Sur, see our County-by-County Page for El Sur.
Newspapers Published in El Sur ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Sur.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of El Sur, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for El Sur.
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 El Sur:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Monterey County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
Cemeteries Near El Sur ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El Sur.
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 Sur covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from El Sur, with the one closest to El Sur listed first.
- Carmel Mission Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Carmel Mission Cemetery is located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
- The Carmel Mission Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mission Carmel Cemetery
- Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmel Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carmel Mission Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640417 <5>
- El Encinal Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the El Encinal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the El Encinal Cemetery
- St. Johns Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
- San Carlos Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Carlos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Carlos Cemetery
- Mission Memorial Park
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission Memorial Park
- El Carmeto Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Gonzales Cemetery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- IOOF Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
- Yamat Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yamat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yamat Cemetery
- Chinese Cemetery
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chinese Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Chinese Cemetery is located in Salinas.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chinese Cemetery
- Monterey County Cemetery
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monterey County Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monterey County Cemetery
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 El Sur in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of El Sur.
These communities are listed based on their distance from El Sur, with the one closest to El Sur listed first.
- Posts
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posts
- Posts is located in Monterey County
- Seaside
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Monterey
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pacific Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Gonzales
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Chualar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Spence
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spence
- Spence is located in Monterey County
- Blanco
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
- Blanco is located in Monterey County
- Salinas
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around El Sur. See our List of 1890's Communities around El Sur.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for El Sur. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Monterey County: www.co.monterey.ca.us/
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> | 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. |
<3> | 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. |
<4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- El Sur) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in El Sur. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2972, Longitude: -121.8466 In this case, the coordinates for El Sur 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 El Sur, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |