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 Las Animas (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 Las Animas. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.
Las Animas is located in Santa Clara 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 Clara County: Alameda, Merced, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz & Stanislaus.
Below are the counties that are near Las Animas. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Las Animas:
- Santa Clara County (The home county of Las Animas)
- The following are listed by their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- Gilroy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Sargent ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
- Rucker
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rucker is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
- San Martin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Morgan Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Madrone
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
- Bell Station
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
- Bell Station has also been known as:
- Bell's Station
- Sveadal
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
- Coyote
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- New Almaden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- English Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- English Town is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
- Alamitos
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Alamitos is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamitos
- Monterey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- Aromas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vega ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Vega is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
- Pajaro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pajaro is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
- Las Lomas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
- Elkhorn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Prunedale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Moss Landing
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Santa Rita
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
- Castroville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Boronda
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Boronda is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
- Salinas
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Marina
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- San Benito County
- The following are listed by their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- River Oaks
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- River Oaks is located in San Benito County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
- Dunneville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Dunneville is located in San Benito County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
- San Juan Bautista
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Hollister
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ridgemark
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ridgemark is located in San Benito County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgemark
- Tres Pinos
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Paicines
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Santa Cruz County
- The following are listed by their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- Interlaken
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
- Watsonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Colache Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
- Strongs Mobile Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Amesti
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
- Corralitos
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Freedom
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Day Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
- La Selva Beach
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rio del Mar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Aptos
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Las Animas, see our County-by-County Page for Las Animas.
Cemeteries Near Las Animas ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Las Animas.
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 Las Animas - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Las Animas covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- St. Marys Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- IOOF Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- San Juan Bautista Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- St. Francis Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- IOOF Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Watsonville Catholic Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hambey Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- IOOF Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for IOOF Cemetery
- The IOOF Cemetery has also been known as:
- IOOF Cemetery
- Odd Fellows Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #670325 <2>
- Calvary Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (26 more) ...
- Calvary Sacred Heart Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Day Valley Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Las Animas in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Las Animas.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Las Animas, with the one closest to Las Animas listed first.
- Carnadero
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Carnadero is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnadero
- Gilroy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Sargent ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
- Vega ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Vega is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
- Tennant ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Tennant is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennant
- Watsonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pajaro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pajaro is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
- Hollister
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Madrone
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone
- Corralitos
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Elkhorn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Bell Station
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bell Station is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Station
- Bell Station has also been known as:
- Bell's Station
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Coyote
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Perry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Perry is located in Santa Clara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
- Natividad
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Natividad is located in Monterey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natividad
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Las Animas. See our List of 1890's Communities around Las Animas.
Newspapers Published in Las Animas ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Las Animas.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Las Animas, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Las Animas.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Las Animas:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Santa Clara County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Monterey County
- San Benito County
- Santa Cruz County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Las Animas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Las Animas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |