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 Merlin (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 Merlin. 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 and doctors 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.
Merlin is located in Plumas 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 Plumas County: Butte, Lassen, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama & Yuba.
Below are the counties that are near Merlin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Merlin:
- Plumas County (The home county of Merlin)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Storrie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Tobin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tobin is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobin
- Bucks Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bucks Lake is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Lake
- Belden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Rich Bar ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rich Bar is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Bar
- Meadow Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Silver Creek ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Silver Creek is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- Spanish Ranch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
- Caribou
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Caribou is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caribou
- Twain
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Longville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Longville is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longville
- Seneca ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Seneca is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
- Butte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Big Bar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Big Bar is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bar
- Pulga
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Stirling City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Merrimac
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Merrimac is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
- Inskip ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Inskip is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inskip
- Powellton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Powellton is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
- Magalia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- De Sabla
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- De Sabla is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Sabla
- Paradise Pines
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Paradise Pines is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Pines
- Brush Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Brush Creek is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
- Concow
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Concow is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concow
- Nimshew
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Nimshew is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
- Lassen County
- Peninsula Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Peninsula Village is located in Lassen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peninsula Village
- Sierra County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Gibsonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Gibsonville is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonville
- Queen City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Queen City is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
- Brandy City ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brandy City is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
- Poker Flat
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Poker Flat is located in Sierra County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poker Flat
- Yuba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Strawberry Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Challenge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Brownsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Rackerby
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Merlin, see our County-by-County Page for Merlin.
Cemeteries Near Merlin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merlin.
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 Merlin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Merlin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Inskip Pioneer Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Coutolenc Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Skyway Memorial Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Paradise Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Paradise Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Paradise.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #158628 <2>
- Clarks Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Forest Ranch Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Nicholl Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Centerville Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Madrone Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Meadow Valley Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Butte Meadows Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cherokee Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Cherokee Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the north of Oroville.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1967787 <2>
- Continue List (37 more) ...
- Indian Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Humbug Valley Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humbug Valley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Humbug Valley Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the south of Chester.
- The Humbug Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
- Dotta Cemetery
- Dotta Family Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2192289 <2>
- Cohasset Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 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.<4>
While we didn't find Merlin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Merlin.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Merlin, with the one closest to Merlin listed first.
- Merrimac
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Merrimac is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrimac
- Inskip ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Inskip is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inskip
- Powellton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Powellton is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
- Lovelock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Lovelock is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelock
- Magalia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nimshew
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Nimshew is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
- Brush Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Brush Creek is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
- Big Bend
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Big Bend is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
- Yankee Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Yankee Hill is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
- Meadow Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Paradise
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Butte Meadows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Forest Ranch
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Forest Ranch is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ranch
- Spanish Ranch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Spanish Ranch is located in Plumas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Ranch
- Pentz
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Pentz is located in Butte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentz
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Merlin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Merlin.
Newspapers Published in Merlin ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merlin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merlin, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merlin.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Merlin:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Plumas County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Butte County
- Lassen County
- Sierra County
- Yuba 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Merlin) 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 Merlin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |