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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Highland. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Highland to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Highland, please Contact Us.

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 (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. 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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Highland is historic, it would have been located within present day Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz County: Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo & Santa Clara.

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

  • Santa Cruz County     (The home county of Highland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • The Willows
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • The Willows is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
    • Laurel
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
    • Glenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Summit
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Summit is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit has also been known as:
      • Loma Prieta
    • Scotts Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Alma ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Alma is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
    • Eccles ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Eccles is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eccles
    • Lompico
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Lompico is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lompico
    • Zayante
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
    • Mount Hermon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Aptos
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ben Lomond
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
      • Former name for Drawbridge:
      • Saline City
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
    • Newark
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Fremont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Fremont is located in Alameda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234,569 people
      • Former names for Fremont:
      • Centerville
      • Irvington
      • Mission San Jose
      • Niles
      • Warm Springs
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont <2>
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • Pajaro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
    • Las Lomas
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
    • Aromas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Moss Landing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Elkhorn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Castroville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Prunedale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Marina
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <2>
    • Santa Rita
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
    • San Juan Bautista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • La Honda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Loma Mar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
    • Portola Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Searsville ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Searsville is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsville
    • West Menlo Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pescadero
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • East Palo Alto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Menlo Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • The Willows
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
    • Adobe Corner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Adobe Corner is located in San Mateo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adobe Corner
    • Atherton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland, with the one closest to Highland listed first.
    • Patchen
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
    • Chemeketa Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Chemeketa Park is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemeketa Park
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
    • Lexington Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
    • Redwood Estates
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lexington ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lexington is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
    • English Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • English Town is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
    • New Almaden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sveadal
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
    • Los Gatos
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Monte Sereno
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Alamitos
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Alamitos is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamitos

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

Cemeteries Near Highland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Highland.

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 - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Old Mexican Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Soquel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soquel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Soquel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Soquel.
    • The Soquel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beit Olam Cemetery
    • Eternal Home Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #999577 <3>
  • Hacienda Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hidalgo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Felton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felton Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Felton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Felton.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #274025 <3>
  • Oakwood Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Memorial Park
    • The Oakwood Memorial Park has also been known as:
    • Oak Wood Cemetery
    • Santa Cruz Memorial Oakwood Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8219 <3>
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Day Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Santa Cruz Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Holy Cross Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Los Gatos Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Home of Peace Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Madronia Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)

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.

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

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

  • Laurel
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
  • Glenwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Patchen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
  • Zayante
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
  • New Almaden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Guadalupe ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Guadalupe is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
  • Felton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Soquel
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Capitola
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Aptos
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Ben Lomond
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Los Gatos
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Santa Cruz
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Greystone ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Greystone is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
    • Corralitos
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Highland ...

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 142 newspapers that have been published in the area around Highland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Highland, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Highland.

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 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:

Footnotes ...

<1>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, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Highland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.