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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 Magra (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 Magra. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Magra is located in Placer 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 Placer County: El Dorado, Nevada, Sacramento, Sutter, Yuba, Carson City (NV), Douglas (NV) & Washoe (NV).

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

  • Placer County     (The home county of Magra)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Secret Town
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Secret Town is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Secret Town
    • Gold Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Iowa Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chicago Park ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chicago Park is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicago Park
    • Dutch Flat
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Colfax
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Alta
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Casa Loma
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Casa Loma is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casa Loma
    • Yankee Jims
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
    • Weimar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Foresthill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Applegate
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Butte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Clipper Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oroleve
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Oroleve is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroleve
  • El Dorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Georgetown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Fornis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Fornis is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fornis
    • Greenwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Cool
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Quintette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Quintette is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
    • Garden Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Pilot Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Coloma
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Kelsey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Kelsey is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsey
    • Lotus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Gold Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Gold Hill is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
    • Salmon Falls ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Salmon Falls is located in El Dorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon Falls
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Chicago Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • You Bet ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • You Bet is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
    • Cedar Ridge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Kres
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Kres is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kres
    • Union Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Alta Sierra
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Alta Sierra is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta Sierra
    • Scotts Flat
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Scotts Flat is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Flat
    • Glenbrook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Gold Flat
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Gold Flat is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Flat
    • Spring Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Hill is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
    • Grass Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Nevada City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Shasta County
    • Bear Valley ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bear Valley is located in Shasta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
  • Sierra County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Alleghany
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Forest
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Forest is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
    • Goodyears Bar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Downieville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Magra, with the one closest to Magra listed first.
    • Smartville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Camptonville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
    • Dobbins
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
    • Timbuctoo ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Timbuctoo is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuctoo
    • Oregon House
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Depot Hill ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Depot Hill is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Depot Hill
    • Browns Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Brownsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Challenge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Magra ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Magra.

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

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

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

  • Iowa Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Colfax Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Colfax Indian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Dutch Flat Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Flat Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dutch Flat Cemetery is located in the vicinity of Alta
  • Deer Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Deer Creek Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Nevada City.
    • The Deer Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
    • New Odd Fellows Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400769 <2>
  • Forest View Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Elm Ridge Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Foresthill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Foresthill Community Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Pioneer Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...
    • Greenwood Memorial Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Patricks Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Catholic Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Gold Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Chicago Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Colfax
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • You Bet ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • You Bet is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for You Bet
  • Dutch Flat
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Buena Vista ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Buena Vista is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
  • Towle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Towle is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towle
  • Alta
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kres
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Kres is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kres
  • Weimar
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Yankee Jims
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Yankee Jims is located in Placer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Jims
  • Union Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Hill is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Glenbrook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Glenbrook is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Nevada City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Michigan Bluff
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Michigan Bluff is located in Placer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michigan Bluff

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

Newspapers Published in Magra ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Magra.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Magra, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Magra.

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 Magra:

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 Magra, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Magra) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.