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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 Madera Ranchos (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 Madera Ranchos. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Madera Ranchos is located in Madera 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 Madera County: Fresno, Mariposa, Merced & Mono.

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

  • Madera County     (The home county of Madera Ranchos)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madera Ranchos, with the one closest to Madera Ranchos listed first.
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Parksdale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
    • Parkwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Madera
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Madera Acres
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Madera Acres is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madera Acres
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • La Vina
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
    • Berenda
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Berenda is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berenda
    • O'Neals
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Knowles Junction
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Yosemite Lakes Park is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yosemite Lakes Park
      • Yosemite Lakes Park has also been known as:
      • Yosemite Lakes
    • Knowles ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Raymond
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Raymond is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
  • Fresno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madera Ranchos, with the one closest to Madera Ranchos listed first.
    • Herndon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Herndon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
    • Pinedale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gordon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Highway City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Highway City is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway City
    • Muscatel
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Barstow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Barstow is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barstow
    • Friant
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Raco
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Raco is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raco
    • Clovis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fresno
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Biola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pratton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Pratton is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratton
    • Tarpey Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Tarpey Village is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpey Village
  • Merced County

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

Cemeteries Near Madera Ranchos ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Madera Ranchos.

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 Madera Ranchos - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Borden's Chinese Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Arbor Vitae Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Clovis Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Fresno County Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...

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

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

  • Herndon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
  • Muscatel
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
  • Fresno
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • La Vina
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • La Vina is located in Madera County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
  • Malaga
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
  • Lone Star
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Knowles ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Knowles is located in Madera County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
  • Raymond
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Raymond is located in Madera County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
  • Easton
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Letcher ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Letcher is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
  • Oleander
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Oleander is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
  • Sentinel ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Fowler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Sanger
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Auberry
      (24 miles [38.6 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 Madera Ranchos. See our List of 1890's Communities around Madera Ranchos.

Newspapers Published in Madera Ranchos ...

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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Madera Ranchos.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Madera Ranchos, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Madera Ranchos.

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 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 Madera Ranchos:

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 Madera Ranchos, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Madera Ranchos) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.