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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 Lucerne (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 Lucerne. 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 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.

Lucerne is located in Kings 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 Kings County: Fresno, Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo & Tulare.

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

  • Kings County     (The home county of Lucerne)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucerne, with the one closest to Lucerne listed first.
    • Hanford
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hardwick
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Home Garden
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Home Garden is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
    • Armona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lemoore
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hub
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Hub is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
    • Stratford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Vanguard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Vanguard is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanguard
    • Corcoran
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Kettleman City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Millham City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Millham City is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millham City
  • Fresno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucerne, with the one closest to Lucerne listed first.
    • Laton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Conejo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Conejo is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conejo
    • Kingsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Riverdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Selma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Selma is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <1>
    • Caruthers
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lanare
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Lanare is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanare
    • Bowles
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Bowles is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowles
    • Fowler
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Parlier
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Del Rey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Del Rey is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey
    • Easton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Burrel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lucerne, with the one closest to Lucerne listed first.
    • Traver
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Goshen
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • London
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • London is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • Chinowths Corner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Chinowths Corner is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinowths Corner
    • Tagus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Tagus is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tagus
    • Waukena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Visalia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Dinuba
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ambler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Ambler is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambler
    • Sultana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Tulare
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Tulare is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,797 people
      • Tulare has also been known as:
      • Tulare City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <1>
    • Loma
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Loma is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
    • Taurusa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Taurusa is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taurusa

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

Cemeteries Near Lucerne ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lucerne.

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 Lucerne - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Kings River Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Grangeville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Grangeville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Armona.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #247363 <2>
  • Potters Field
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Sam Yup Chinese Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hanford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Lemoore Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Knoll Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Rhoads Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kingsburg Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (37 more) ...
    • Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the south of Lemoore.
      • The Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Tachi Indian Cemetery
      • Tachi Yokut Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152019 <2>
    • Lakeside Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Hanford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Lillis ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lillis is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillis
  • Wildflower
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
  • Traver
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Riverdale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Goshen
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Selma
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Selma is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <1>
  • Caruthers
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Fowler
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Oleander
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Oleander is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
  • Tagus
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Tagus is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tagus
  • Easton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Visalia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Monson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Monson is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monson
    • Reedley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Lucerne ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lucerne.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lucerne, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lucerne.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Lucerne:

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>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- Lucerne) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Lucerne, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.