RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Lake County >> Highland Springs >> 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 Highland Springs (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 Highland Springs. 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 Highland Springs ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Highland Springs: Highland Spgs. (or less commonly used: Highland Spngs. or Highland Sprngs.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Highland Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Highland Springs.

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 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.

Highland Springs is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma & Yolo.

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

  • Lake County     (The home county of Highland Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Finley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Kelseyville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeport
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Soda Bay
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenview
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Glenview is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
    • Glenbrook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • North Lakeport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • North Lakeport is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
    • Salminas Resort
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Salminas Resort is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salminas Resort
    • Glenhaven
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cobb
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Seigler Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Seigler Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seigler Springs
    • Lucerne
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Grove is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
  • Colusa County
  • Mendocino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Hopland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Largo ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Largo is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Yorkville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Talmage
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hemlock Ranch
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hemlock Ranch is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ranch
      • Hemlock Ranch has also been known as:
      • Hemlock
    • Ukiah
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
      • Ukiah has also been known as:
      • Ukiah City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <1>
    • The Forks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • The Forks is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Forks
    • Calpella
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Boonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Redwood Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Potter Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Philo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Woodleaf
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodleaf is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
    • Calistoga
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Preston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Preston is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Cloverdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mercuryville ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mercuryville is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercuryville
    • Geyserville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Camp Rose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Camp Rose is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rose
    • Healdsburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Kellogg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Kellogg is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
    • Windsor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Mark West Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Mark West Springs is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark West Springs
    • Rio Nido
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Annapolis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cazadero
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Guerneville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Highland Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Highland Springs.

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 Highland Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Highland Springs had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Kelseyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lakeport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Pieta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pieta is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieta
  • Preston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Preston is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
  • Glenbrook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
  • Cloverdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Hopland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Asti
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Asti is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asti
  • Largo ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Largo is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
  • Upper Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Geyserville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Lower Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Yorkville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Talmage
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Highland Springs ...

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 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Highland Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Highland Springs, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Highland Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Highland Springs:

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>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- Highland Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Highland Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.