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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 Kister (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 Kister. 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 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.

Kister is located in Butte 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 Butte County: Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Kister)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kister, with the one closest to Kister listed first.
    • Merrimac
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Merrimac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
      • Merrimac is located in Butte County
    • Big Bar
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
      • Big Bar is located in Butte County
    • Pulga
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Brush Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brush Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
      • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
    • Big Bend
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Big Bend is located in Butte County
    • Stirling City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Concow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Concow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concow
      • Concow is located in Butte County
    • Magalia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Berry Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Paradise Pines
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Pines
      • Paradise Pines is located in Butte County
    • De Sabla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Sabla
      • De Sabla is located in Butte County
    • Irish Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irish Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Town
      • Irish Town is located in Butte County
    • Nimshew
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
      • Nimshew is located in Butte County
  • Plumas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kister, with the one closest to Kister listed first.
    • Storrie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Tobin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tobin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobin
      • Tobin is located in Plumas County
    • Bucks Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Lake
      • Bucks Lake is located in Plumas County
    • Belden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rich Bar ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rich Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Bar
      • Rich Bar is located in Plumas County
    • Meadow Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Silver Creek ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Silver Creek is located in Plumas County
    • Spanish Ranch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spanish Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
      • Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
    • Caribou
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
      • Caribou is located in Plumas County
    • Twain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Grass Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Grass Valley
      • Little Grass Valley is located in Plumas County
    • La Porte
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Longville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longville
      • Longville is located in Plumas County
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kister, with the one closest to Kister listed first.
    • Gibsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gibsonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
      • Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
    • Queen City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queen City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
      • Queen City is located in Sierra County
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brandy City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
    • Poker Flat
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
      • Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kister, with the one closest to Kister listed first.
    • Strawberry Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Challenge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Rackerby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Depot Hill ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
      • Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Foster Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bullards Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Camptonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garden Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County

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

Cemeteries Near Kister ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kister.

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

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

  • Clarks Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarks Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Clarks Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Coutolenc Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coutolenc Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coutolenc Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Inskip Pioneer Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Inskip Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Inskip Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cherokee Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nicholl Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nicholl Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Nicholl Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Centerville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Centerville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Ranch Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Ranch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Meadow Valley Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Oregon City Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Butte Meadows Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butte Meadows Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Butte Meadows Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
  • Continue List   (38 more) ...
    • Cohasset Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cohasset Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cohasset Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
      • 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.
    • Thompson Flat Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Flat Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Kister in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Kister.

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

  • Merrimac
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Merrimac. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
    • Merrimac is located in Butte County
  • Big Bend
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
    • Big Bend is located in Butte County
  • Brush Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brush Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
    • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
  • Yankee Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
    • Yankee Hill is located in Butte County
  • Magalia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Lovelock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovelock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelock
    • Lovelock is located in Butte County
  • Powellton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Powellton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
    • Powellton is located in Butte County
  • Nimshew
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
    • Nimshew is located in Butte County
  • Paradise
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Inskip ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Inskip. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inskip
    • Inskip is located in Butte County
  • Cherokee ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cherokee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
    • Cherokee is located in Butte County
  • Pentz
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pentz have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentz
    • Pentz is located in Butte County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lumpkin ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lumpkin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
      • Lumpkin is located in Butte County
    • Meadow Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Forest Ranch
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ranch
      • Forest Ranch is located in Butte County

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

Newspapers Published in Kister ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kister.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kister, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kister.

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 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 Kister:

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

The official website for Butte County: www.buttecounty.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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 Kister, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Kister) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kister. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8221, Longitude: -121.3633       In this case, the coordinates for Kister have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025