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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 Huntington Beach (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 Huntington Beach. 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 Huntington Beach ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Huntington Beach: Huntington Bch.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Huntington Beach is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino & San Diego.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of Huntington Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Huntington Beach, with the one closest to Huntington Beach listed first.
    • Wintersburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wintersburg
      • Wintersburg is located in Orange County
    • Fountain Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Costa Mesa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Midway City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Westminster
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Sunset Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Newport Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Santa Ana Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Barber City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barber City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber City
      • Barber City is located in Orange County
    • Green Lantern Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Lantern Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lantern Village
      • Green Lantern Village is located in Orange County
    • Surfside
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Seal Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Balboa Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Los Angeles County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Huntington Beach, with the one closest to Huntington Beach listed first.
    • Naples
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Naples is located in Los Angeles County
    • Belmont Shore
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hawaiian Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Cambodia Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambodia Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambodia Town
      • Cambodia Town is located in Los Angeles County
    • Cerritos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Long Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Signal Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Artesia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artesia
      • Artesia is located in Los Angeles County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Artesia <1>
    • Carmenita
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carmenita have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmenita
      • Carmenita is located in Los Angeles County
    • Lakewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellflower
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
      • Lincoln Village is located in Los Angeles County
    • Fish Harbor ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fish Harbor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Harbor
      • Fish Harbor is located in Los Angeles County
  • Riverside County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Huntington Beach, with the one closest to Huntington Beach listed first.
    • Corona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
      • Corona is located in Riverside County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 170,996 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corona <1>
    • El Cerrito
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Cerrito have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Cerrito
      • El Cerrito is located in Riverside County
    • Temescal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temescal
      • Temescal is located in Riverside County
    • Porphyry ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porphyry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porphyry
      • Porphyry is located in Riverside County
  • San Bernardino County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Huntington Beach, with the one closest to Huntington Beach listed first.
    • Los Serranos
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Serranos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Serranos
      • Los Serranos is located in San Bernardino County
    • Chino Hills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chino
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chino
      • Chino is located in San Bernardino County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chino <1>
  • San Diego County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Huntington Beach ...

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 199 newspapers that have been published in the area around Huntington Beach.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Huntington Beach. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Huntington Beach and those printed in the larger area surrounding Huntington Beach.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> of Huntington Beach.

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 Huntington Beach:

Cemeteries Near Huntington Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Huntington Beach.

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

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

  • The Good Shepherd Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the The Good Shepherd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the The Good Shepherd Cemetery
  • Good Shepherd Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • The Good Shepherd Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Huntington Beach Cemetery
    • Roselawn Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Good Shepherd Cemetery
  • Harbor Lawn - Mt. Olive Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Westminster Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Magnolia Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Magnolia Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Magnolia Memorial Park
  • Pacific View Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pacific View Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pacific View Memorial Park
  • Melrose Abbey Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Melrose Abbey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Melrose Abbey Cemetery
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Lawn Memorial Park
  • Santa Ana Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Ana Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The Santa Ana Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Ana Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8351 <5>
  • Fairhaven Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Santa Ana.
    • The St. John's Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New St. John Lutheran Cemetery
    • New St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • St. Johns Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8324 <5>
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...
    • Anaheim Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Beach Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • The Long Beach Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Long Beach Municipal Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Beach Cemetery
    • Table Top Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Table Top Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Table Top 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.<6>

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

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

  • Newport Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bolsa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bolsa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolsa
    • Bolsa is located in Orange County
  • Westminster
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Garden Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Ana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Orange
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Miraflores
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miraflores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miraflores
    • Miraflores is located in Orange County
  • Irvine
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • McPherson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McPherson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherson
    • McPherson is located in Orange County
  • Marlboro
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marlboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
    • Marlboro is located in Orange County
  • Anaheim
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Brookhurst
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookhurst have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhurst
    • Brookhurst is located in Orange County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Cerritos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • El Modena
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Modena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Modena
      • El Modena is located in Orange County
    • Almond
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almond have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
      • Almond is located in Orange County

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

The official website for Huntington Beach: www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/

The official website for Orange County: www.oc.ca.gov/

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>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.
<4>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- Huntington Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Huntington Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6670, Longitude: -118.0002    
<5>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.
<6>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 Huntington Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024