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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 Melvin (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 Melvin. 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.

Melvin is located in Fresno 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 Fresno County: Inyo, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito & Tulare.

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

  • Fresno County     (The home county of Melvin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
    • Clovis
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Tarpey Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Tarpey Village is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpey Village
    • Fresno
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinedale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gordon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Gordon is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Lone Star
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Calwa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Calwa is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calwa
    • Malaga
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Malaga is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
    • Muscatel
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
    • Sanger
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • West Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Highway City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Highway City is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway City
    • Del Rey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Del Rey is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey
  • Kings County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
    • Hardwick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Hub
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Hub is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
  • Madera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
    • Millerton ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Millerton is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • Bonadelle Ranchos - Madera Ranchos
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Parksdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Parksdale is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksdale
    • Parkwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Parkwood is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • O'Neals
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Madera
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • La Vina
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • La Vina is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Vina
    • Madera Acres
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Madera Acres is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madera Acres
    • Yosemite Lakes Park
      (26 miles [41.8 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Knowles is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles
    • Berenda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Berenda is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berenda
    • Knowles Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Knowles Junction is located in Madera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowles Junction
    • North Fork
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
    • Dinuba
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • London
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • London is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • Sultana
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Traver
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Orosi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cutler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • East Orosi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • East Orosi is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orosi

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

Cemeteries Near Melvin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melvin.

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

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

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

  • Clovis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Redbank Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Fresno County Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Masis Ararat Armenian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Belmont Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (40 more) ...
    • St. Peters Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Academy Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fresno Memorial Gardens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Fresno
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lone Star
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lone Star is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
  • Malaga
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Malaga is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malaga
  • Muscatel
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Muscatel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscatel
  • Sanger
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Easton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oleander
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Oleander is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
  • Fowler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Letcher ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Letcher is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher
  • Herndon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Herndon is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herndon
  • Sentinel ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sentinel is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sentinel
  • Selma
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Caruthers
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Reedley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wildflower
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower

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

Newspapers Published in Melvin ...

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 128 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melvin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melvin, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Melvin.

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 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 Melvin:

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 Melvin, 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- Melvin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.