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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 Hills Flat (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 Hills Flat. 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 Hills Flat ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Hills Flat: Hills Flt.
  • While the name of this community is Hills Flat, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hills Flat may originally have been Hill's Flat.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hills Flat might be written as Hill Flat.

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.

Hills Flat is located in Nevada 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 Nevada County: Placer, Sierra, Yuba & Washoe (NV).

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

  • Nevada County     (The home county of Hills Flat)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Spring Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
      • Spring Hill is located in Nevada County
    • Grass Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Glenbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
      • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
    • Union Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
      • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
    • The Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Oaks
      • The Oaks is located in Nevada County
    • Gold Flat
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gold Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Flat
      • Gold Flat is located in Nevada County
    • Cedar Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Nevada City Rancheria
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nevada City Rancheria have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevada City Rancheria
      • Nevada City Rancheria is located in Nevada County
    • Nevada City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newtown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
      • Newtown is located in Nevada County
    • Bitney Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitney Corner
      • Bitney Corner is located in Nevada County
    • Rough and Ready
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Alta Sierra
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alta Sierra have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Sierra
      • Alta Sierra is located in Nevada County
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Bangor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clipper Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Oroleve
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroleve
      • Oroleve is located in Butte County
    • Evansville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evansville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
      • Evansville is located in Butte County
    • Forbestown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Robinson Mill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Mill
      • Robinson Mill is located in Butte County
    • Honcut
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumpkin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
      • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
    • Feather Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Palermo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • South Fork ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fork
      • South Fork is located in Butte County
    • Bidwell Bar ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bidwell Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell Bar
      • Bidwell Bar is located in Butte County
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Cool
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Greenwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Georgetown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fornis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fornis
      • Fornis is located in El Dorado County
    • Pilot Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Garden Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Quintette
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
      • Quintette is located in El Dorado County
    • Coloma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Lotus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Placer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Chicago Park ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chicago Park. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Park
      • Chicago Park is located in Placer County
    • Gold Run
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Colfax
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Secret Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Secret Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
      • Secret Town is located in Placer County
    • Dutch Flat
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Alta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Weimar
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Iowa Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Casa Loma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
      • Casa Loma is located in Placer County
    • Applegate
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Meadow Vista
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Yankee Jims
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Jims have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
      • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
    • Clipper Gap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper Gap
      • Clipper Gap is located in Placer County
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bear Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
      • Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Alleghany
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandy City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
    • Forest
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
    • Goodyears Bar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Downieville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sutter County
    • Yuba City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hills Flat, with the one closest to Hills Flat listed first.
    • Dobbins
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Smartville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bullards Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
    • Oregon House
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Timbuctoo ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuctoo
      • Timbuctoo is located in Yuba County
    • Camptonville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Depot Hill ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Depot Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
      • Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
    • Browns Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Brownsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Challenge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Loma Rica
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County

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

Newspapers Published in Hills Flat ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hills Flat.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hills Flat, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hills Flat.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Hills Flat:

Cemeteries Near Hills Flat ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hills Flat.

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 Hills Flat covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Elm Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm Ridge Cemetery
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Catholic Cemetery is located in Grass Valley.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catholic Cemetery
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
  • Greenwood Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Deer Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Deer Creek Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Nevada City.
    • The Deer Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New Odd Fellows Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deer Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400769 <6>
  • Forest View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Rough & Ready Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rough & Ready Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rough & Ready Cemetery
  • Pioneer Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Grove Cemetery
  • Colfax Indian Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Colfax Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Colfax Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Colfax Cemetery
  • Continue List   (56 more) ...
    • Dutch Flat Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutch Flat Cemetery
    • Kneebone Family Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Iowa Hill Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Iowa Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Iowa Hill 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.<7>

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

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

  • Union Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
  • Glenbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
  • Kres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kres have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kres
    • Kres is located in Nevada County
  • Nevada City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Buena Vista ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in Nevada County
  • Rough and Ready
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Chicago Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sweetland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
    • Sweetland is located in Nevada County
  • You Bet ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for You Bet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
    • You Bet is located in Nevada County
  • North San Juan
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Colfax
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Gold Run
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • North Columbia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Columbia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Columbia
      • North Columbia is located in Nevada County
    • Dutch Flat
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Wolf
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf
      • Wolf is located in Nevada County

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

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

The official website for Nevada County: www.new.mynevadacounty.com/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 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>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hills Flat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hills Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2241, Longitude: -121.0533       In this case, the coordinates for Hills Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.
<7>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 Hills Flat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024