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 Matilija Springs (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 Matilija Springs. 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 Matilija Springs ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Matilija Springs: Matilija Spgs. (or less commonly used: Matilija Spngs. or Matilija Sprngs.)
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 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.
Matilija Springs is located in Ventura 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 Ventura County: Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara.
Below are the counties that are near Matilija Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Matilija Springs:
- Ventura County (The home county of Matilija Springs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Matilija Springs, with the one closest to Matilija Springs listed first.
- Meiners Oaks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Meiners Oaks is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meiners Oaks
- Mira Monte
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ojai
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oak View
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sea Cliff
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sea Cliff is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Cliff
- Ventura
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Ventura is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107,110 people
- Ventura has also been known as:
- San Buenaventura
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ventura <1>
- Pierpont Bay
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Pierpont Bay is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont Bay
- Montalvo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Montalvo is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montalvo
- Cabrillo Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cabrillo Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabrillo Village
- Santa Paula
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Saticoy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Saticoy is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saticoy
- El Rio
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- El Rio is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Rio
- Kern County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matilija Springs, with the one closest to Matilija Springs listed first.
- Pine Mountain Club
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lake of the Woods
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lake of the Woods is located in Kern County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake of the Woods
- Santa Barbara County
- The following are listed by their distance from Matilija Springs, with the one closest to Matilija Springs listed first.
- Carpinteria
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Old Town
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Old Town is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Franciscan Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Franciscan Village is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franciscan Village
- Toro Canyon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Toro Canyon is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toro Canyon
- Ortega ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ortega is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortega
- Summerland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Montecito
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Santa Barbara
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Mission Canyon
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Mission Canyon is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Canyon
- Ventucopa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ventucopa is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventucopa
- Hope Ranch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Hope Ranch is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Ranch
- Goleta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Matilija Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Matilija Springs.
Cemeteries Near Matilija Springs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Matilija Springs.
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 Matilija Springs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Matilija Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Matilija Springs, with the one closest to Matilija Springs listed first.
- Nordhoff Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ojai Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Carpinteria Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Memorial Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Santa Paula Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ivy Lawn Memorial Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Santa Clara Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Santa Barbara Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bardsdale Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardsdale Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Bardsdale Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Bardsdale.
- Hueneme Masonic Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hueneme Masonic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hueneme Masonic Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Port Hueneme.
- The Hueneme Masonic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Masonic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8145 <2>
- Japanese Cemetery
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Calvary Cemetery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Conejo Mtn. Memorial Park
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- La Patera Catholic Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Goleta Cemetery
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
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 Matilija Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Matilija Springs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Matilija Springs, with the one closest to Matilija Springs listed first.
- Matilija
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Matilija is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilija
- Sea Cliff
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sea Cliff is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Cliff
- Carpinteria
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ventura
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Ventura is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107,110 people
- Ventura has also been known as:
- San Buenaventura
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ventura <1>
- Serena
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Serena is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serena
- Ortega ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ortega is located in Santa Barbara County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortega
- Montalvo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Montalvo is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montalvo
- Saticoy
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Saticoy is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saticoy
- Santa Paula
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Summerland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Springville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Springville is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Sespe Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Sespe Village is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sespe Village
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Santa Barbara
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Fillmore
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bardsdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Bardsdale is located in Ventura County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardsdale
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Matilija Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Matilija Springs.
Newspapers Published in Matilija Springs ...
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 101 newspapers that have been published in the area around Matilija Springs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Matilija Springs, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Matilija Springs.
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 Matilija Springs:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Ventura County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Kern County
- Santa Barbara County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for California
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 Matilija Springs, 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 from Point A (ie- Matilija Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |