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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Lava Beds. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Lava Beds to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Lava Beds, please Contact Us.

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 Lava Beds (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 Lava Beds. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Lava Beds is historic, it would have been located within present day Butte 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 Butte County: Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Lava Beds)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • South Oroville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • South Oroville is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Oroville
    • Oroville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Thermalito
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Thermalito is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermalito
    • Lynchburg ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lynchburg is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
    • Palermo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Longs Bar ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Longs Bar is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longs Bar
    • Oroville Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Oroville Junction is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroville Junction
    • Lorraine ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Lorraine is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorraine
    • Wyandotte
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
    • East Biggs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • East Biggs is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Biggs
    • Bidwell ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bidwell is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
    • Robinsons Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Robinsons Corner is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinsons Corner
  • Colusa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • Princeton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Colusa Rancheria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Colusa Rancheria is located in Colusa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colusa Rancheria
    • Colusa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • Afton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Afton is located in Glenn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
    • Butte City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Glenn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Hamilton City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • Bridgeport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Bridgeport is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
    • Birchville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Birchville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchville
    • North San Juan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lake Wildwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Wildwood is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wildwood
    • Penn Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rough and Ready
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bitney Corner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bitney Corner is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitney Corner
    • Newtown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Newtown is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Sierra County
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • Live Oak
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • Pennington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pennington is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Tierra Buena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Tierra Buena is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Buena
    • Yuba City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Sutter
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • South Yuba City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • South Yuba City is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yuba City
    • Bogue
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bogue is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
    • Tarke
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Tarke is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarke
    • Meridian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lava Beds, with the one closest to Lava Beds listed first.
    • Rackerby
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Iowa City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Iowa City is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa City
    • Loma Rica
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
    • Brownsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Challenge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Browns Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Oregon House
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Dobbins
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Binney Junction
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Binney Junction is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binney Junction
    • Dantoni
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Dantoni is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dantoni
    • Marysville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Timbuctoo ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Timbuctoo is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuctoo

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

Cemeteries Near Lava Beds ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lava Beds.

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 Lava Beds - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lava Beds covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Park
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Memorial Park is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Oroville.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8154 <3>
  • Oroville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Butte County Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Thompson Flat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Oregon City Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Gridley - Biggs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gridley - Biggs Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gridley - Biggs Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the northeast of Gridley.
    • The Gridley - Biggs Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Biggs Cemetery
    • Live Oak Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8006 <3>
  • Honcut Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bangor Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bangor Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Bangor.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2220275 <3>
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Upham Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (50 more) ...
    • Cherokee Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cherokee Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the north of Oroville.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1967787 <3>
    • Nelson Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Clear Creek Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)

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.

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

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

  • Oroville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Palermo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wyandotte
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
  • Bigg's
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hurleton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Hurleton is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurleton
  • Gridley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Honcut
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Bangor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Enterprise ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Enterprise is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Nelson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Honcut
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Honcut is located in Yuba County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honcut
  • Cherokee ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Cherokee is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Pentz
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Pentz is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentz
    • Live Oak
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • Ramirez
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Ramirez is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramirez

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

Newspapers Published in Lava Beds ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lava Beds.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lava Beds, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lava Beds.

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 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 Lava Beds:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Lava Beds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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.
<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 from Point A (ie- Lava Beds) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.