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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 Five Points (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 Five Points. 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 Five Points ...

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 Five Points: Five Pts.

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.

Five Points is located in Fresno 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 Fresno County: Inyo, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito & Tulare.

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

  • Fresno County     (The home county of Five Points)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Points, with the one closest to Five Points listed first.
    • Helm
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Burrel
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lanare
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanare
      • Lanare is located in Fresno County
    • Cantua Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Riverdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • San Joaquin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Huron
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Caruthers
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Raisin City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Giffen Cantua Ranch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giffen Cantua Ranch
      • Giffen Cantua Ranch is located in Fresno County
    • Tranquillity
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fresno City ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fresno City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresno City
      • Fresno City is located in Fresno County
    • Kerman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Kings County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Points, with the one closest to Five Points listed first.
    • Vanguard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vanguard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanguard
      • Vanguard is located in Kings County
    • Hub
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hub have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
      • Hub is located in Kings County
    • Lemoore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardwick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
    • Stratford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Armona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Hanford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Home Garden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
      • Home Garden is located in Kings County
    • Millham City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millham City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millham City
      • Millham City is located in Kings County
    • Avenal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Kettleman City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Five Points ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Five Points.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Five Points, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Five Points.

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 Five Points:

Cemeteries Near Five Points ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Five Points.

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 Five Points covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Raisin City Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Taylor Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2365867 <4>
  • Rhoads Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Oak Knoll Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Knoll Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Knoll Cemetery
  • Lemoore Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the north of Lemoore.
    • The Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tachi Indian Cemetery
    • Tachi Yokut Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152019 <4>
  • Washington Colony Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Grangeville Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Warthan Canyon Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warthan Canyon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warthan Canyon Cemetery
  • Fresno Memorial Gardens
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fresno Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fresno Memorial Gardens
  • Continue List   (24 more) ...
    • Kings River Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • St. Peters Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Potters Field
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Riverdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Huron
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Caruthers
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lillis ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillis
    • Lillis is located in Fresno County
  • Easton
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Wildflower
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildflower have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
    • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
  • Oleander
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oleander have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
    • Oleander is located in Fresno County
  • Hanford
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Malaga
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malaga have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
  • Fowler
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Muscatel
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
  • Selma
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Selma is located in Fresno County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <1>
  • Lone Star
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
  • Herndon
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County

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

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

The official website for Fresno County: www.co.fresno.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>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>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 from Point A (ie- Five Points) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Five Points. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4296, Longitude: -120.1031    
<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>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.
<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 Five Points, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024