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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 Hilmar (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 Hilmar. 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.

Hilmar is located in Merced 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 Merced County: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.

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

  • Merced County     (The home county of Hilmar)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilmar, with the one closest to Hilmar listed first.
    • Delhi
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Stevinson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Livingston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Ballico
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Cressey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Winton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Atwater
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • The Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
      • The Grove is located in Merced County
    • Gustine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Arundel ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arundel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arundel
      • Arundel is located in Merced County
    • Fluhr
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fluhr
      • Fluhr is located in Merced County
    • Amsterdam
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
      • Amsterdam is located in Merced County
    • Merced
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • San Joaquin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilmar, with the one closest to Hilmar listed first.
    • Ripon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
      • Ripon is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,774 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon <1>
    • Alba
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alba
      • Alba is located in San Joaquin County
    • Escalon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escalon
      • Escalon is located in San Joaquin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,580 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Escalon <1>
    • Vernalis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Stanislaus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilmar, with the one closest to Hilmar listed first.
    • Turlock
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlock
      • Turlock is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,059 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turlock <1>
    • Denair
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Keyes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Newman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
      • Newman is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,702 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newman <1>
    • Crows Landing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Hughson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Ceres
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
      • Ceres is located in Stanislaus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,603 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceres <1>
    • Hickman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Bret Harte
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bret Harte
      • Bret Harte is located in Stanislaus County
    • Patterson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Empire
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bystrom
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bystrom have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bystrom
      • Bystrom is located in Stanislaus County
    • Shackelford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shackelford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shackelford
      • Shackelford is located in Stanislaus County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hilmar ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hilmar.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hilmar. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hilmar and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hilmar.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Hilmar.

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 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 Hilmar:

Cemeteries Near Hilmar ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hilmar.

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

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

  • South Hilmar Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Hilmar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Hilmar Cemetery
  • North Hilmar Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevinson Sunnyside Cemetery
  • Turlock Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Denair Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hills Ferry Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Winton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Winton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winton Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8453 <4>
  • Lakewood Memorial Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakewood Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakewood Memorial Park
  • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stanislaus Cemetery
  • Hopeton Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopeton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopeton Cemetery
  • Patterson Cemetery District
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Roberts Ferry Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roberts Ferry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roberts Ferry Cemetery
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Grayson Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Merced.
      • The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
      • Calvary Merced Cemetery District
      • Be careful not to confuse this cemetery with another one that is also named Calvary Cemetery (located 56 miles to the north).
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7873 <4>
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen 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.<5>

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

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

  • Delhi
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Turlock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlock
    • Turlock is located in Stanislaus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,059 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turlock <1>
  • Livingston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Arena
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
    • Arena is located in Merced County
  • Keyes
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Newman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newman
    • Newman is located in Stanislaus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,702 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newman <1>
  • Montpelier
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montpelier have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montpelier
    • Montpelier is located in Stanislaus County
  • Crows Landing
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Gustine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Atwater
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Ceres
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
    • Ceres is located in Stanislaus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,603 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceres <1>
  • Linora ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linora
    • Linora is located in Merced County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hickman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Waterford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Ingomar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ingomar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingomar
      • Ingomar is located in Merced County

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

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

The official website for Merced County: www.co.merced.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 '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- Hilmar) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hilmar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4079, Longitude: -120.8501    
<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>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 Hilmar, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024