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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 Laws (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 Laws. 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 Laws ...

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.

Laws was originally named Station

A past name for Laws: Bishop Depot.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Laws is located in Inyo 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 Inyo County: Fresno, Kern, Mono, San Bernardino, Tulare, Clark (NV), Esmeralda (NV) & Nye (NV).

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

  • Inyo County     (The home county of Laws)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laws, with the one closest to Laws listed first.
    • Owensville ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Owensville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensville
      • Owensville is located in Inyo County
    • Poleta ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poleta
      • Poleta is located in Inyo County
    • Bishop
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bigelow ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bigelow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
      • Bigelow is located in Inyo County
    • Dixon Lane - Meadow Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Sunland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunland
      • Sunland is located in Inyo County
    • West Bishop ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bishop
      • West Bishop is located in Inyo County
    • Brockmans Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockmans Corner
      • Brockmans Corner is located in Inyo County
    • Oteys Sierra Village ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oteys Sierra Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oteys Sierra Village
      • Oteys Sierra Village is located in Inyo County
    • Rocking K
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocking K
      • Rocking K is located in Inyo County
    • Wilkerson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkerson
      • Wilkerson is located in Inyo County
    • Alta Vista
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Vista
      • Alta Vista is located in Inyo County
  • Mono County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laws, with the one closest to Laws listed first.
    • Chalfant Valley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfant Valley
      • Chalfant Valley is located in Mono County
    • Mesa Camp
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesa Camp
      • Mesa Camp is located in Mono County
    • Hammil
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammil
      • Hammil is located in Mono County
    • Tom's Place
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom's Place
      • Tom's Place is located in Mono County
    • Aspen Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspen Springs
      • Aspen Springs is located in Mono County
    • South Landing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Landing
      • South Landing is located in Mono County
    • North Landing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Landing
      • North Landing is located in Mono County
    • Benton Hot Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Hot Springs
      • Benton Hot Springs is located in Mono County
    • Benton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Montgomery City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery City
      • Montgomery City is located in Mono County
    • Benton Crossing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benton Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Crossing
      • Benton Crossing is located in Mono County
    • Convict Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Convict Lake
      • Convict Lake is located in Mono County
  • Esmeralda County (NV)
    • Dyer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Laws ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laws.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laws, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Laws.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Laws:

Cemeteries Near Laws ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laws.

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

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

  • East Line Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the East Line Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Bishop.
    • The East Line Cemetery has also been known as:
    • East Line Street Cemetery
    • Line Street Cemetery
    • Masonic Cemetery
    • Odd Fellows & Masonic Cemetery
    • Oddfellows & Masonic Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Line Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7943 <5>
  • West Line Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the West Line Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Bishop.
    • The West Line Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pioneer Cemetery
    • West Line Street Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Line Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8276 <5>
  • Sunland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Big Pine Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Woodman Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodman Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Big Pine.
    • The Woodman Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Woodman of the World Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodman Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2473277 <5>
  • Benton Hot Springs Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Black Lake Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Fish Lake Valley Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Morrison Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery City Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Laws had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Bishop
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Round Valley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Valley
    • Round Valley is located in Inyo County
  • Zurich ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zurich
    • Zurich is located in Inyo County
    • Zurich has also been known as:
    • Zurich Station
  • Big Pine
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Hammil
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammil
    • Hammil is located in Mono County
  • Dyer
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Benton
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Aberdeen
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
    • Aberdeen is located in Inyo County

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

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

The official website for Inyo County: www.inyocounty.us/

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>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- Laws) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laws. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4007, Longitude: -118.3461    
<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 Laws, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024