RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Yuba County >> Frenchtown >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Frenchtown (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 Frenchtown. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Frenchtown is located in Yuba 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 Yuba County: Butte, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra & Sutter.

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

  • Yuba County     (The home county of Frenchtown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Dobbins
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oregon House
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Brownsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rackerby
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
    • Challenge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
    • Loma Rica
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
    • Camptonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Smartville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Timbuctoo ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Timbuctoo is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuctoo
    • Browns Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Evansville ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Evansville is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
    • Robinson Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Robinson Mill is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Mill
    • Bangor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Forbestown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Oroleve
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Oroleve is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroleve
    • Clipper Mills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wyandotte
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
    • South Fork ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • South Fork is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fork
    • Feather Falls
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
    • Bidwell Bar ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bidwell Bar is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell Bar
    • Honcut
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Palermo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Birchville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Birchville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchville
    • Bridgeport
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bridgeport is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
    • North San Juan
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lake Wildwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Lake Wildwood is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wildwood
    • Newtown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Newtown is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
    • Rough and Ready
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Penn Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Bitney Corner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Bitney Corner is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitney Corner
    • Nevada City Rancheria
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • North Columbia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • North Columbia is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Columbia
    • The Oaks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • The Oaks is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Oaks
    • Blue Tent
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Blue Tent is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Tent
    • Glenbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Chicago Park ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Chicago Park is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Park
    • Colfax
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dutch Flat
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Gold Run
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Secret Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Secret Town is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
    • Alta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sheridan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Casa Loma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Casa Loma is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
    • Iowa Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Weimar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Meadow Vista
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Applegate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Plumas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • La Porte
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Grass Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Little Grass Valley is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Grass Valley
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • 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 Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
    • Alleghany
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Forest
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
    • Goodyears Bar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Downieville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Queen City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Queen City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
    • Gibsonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
    • Poker Flat
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Frenchtown, with the one closest to Frenchtown listed first.
    • Live Oak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • Yuba City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • South Yuba City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • South Yuba City is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yuba City
    • Tierra Buena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Tierra Buena is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Buena
    • Bogue
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bogue is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
    • Pennington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Pennington is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Sutter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Frenchtown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Frenchtown.

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 Frenchtown - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Frenchtown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Brownsville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Brownsville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Upham Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bangor Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bangor Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Bangor.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2220275 <2>
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Peoria Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Peoria Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Camptonville Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Honcut Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Rough & Ready Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Browns Valley Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (61 more) ...
    • Immaculate Conception Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immaculate Conception Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Immaculate Conception Cemetery is located outside of Smartsville
      • The Immaculate Conception Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Smartsville Catholic Cemetery
      • Smartville Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2189988 <2>
    • Smartsville Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartsville Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Smartsville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located
      • The Smartsville Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Good Templars Cemetery
      • Mason Cemetery
      • McGanney Cemetery
      • Odd Fellows Cemetery
      • Smartsville Fraternal Cemetery
      • Smartville Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8377 <2>
    • Pike City Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<3>

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

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

  • Dobbins
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Oregon House
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Brownsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
  • Sweetland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sweetland is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
  • North San Juan
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Bangor
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Forbestown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Hurleton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hurleton is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurleton
  • Camptonville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Enterprise ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Enterprise is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Clipper Mills
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Smartville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Rough and Ready
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Wyandotte
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte

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

Newspapers Published in Frenchtown ...

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 Frenchtown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Frenchtown, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Frenchtown.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Frenchtown:

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>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 Frenchtown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Frenchtown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.