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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 Mission Canyon (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 Mission Canyon. 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 Mission Canyon ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Mission Canyon: Mission Cyn. (or less commonly used: Mission Canyn. or Mission Cnyn.)

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 doctors and 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.

Mission Canyon is located in Santa Barbara County.

To see how the shape of California's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Santa Barbara County: Kern, San Luis Obispo & Ventura.

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

  • Santa Barbara County     (The home county of Mission Canyon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mission Canyon, with the one closest to Mission Canyon listed first.
    • Santa Barbara
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hope Ranch
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Ranch
      • Hope Ranch is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Montecito
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Summerland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Goleta
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goleta
      • Goleta is located in Santa Barbara County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 30,944 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goleta <1>
    • Ortega ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ortega have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortega
      • Ortega is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Toro Canyon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toro Canyon
      • Toro Canyon is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Isla Vista
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Franciscan Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franciscan Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franciscan Village
      • Franciscan Village is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Old Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Carpinteria
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Naples ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
      • Naples is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Cachuma Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cachuma Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cachuma Village
      • Cachuma Village is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Ventura County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mission Canyon, with the one closest to Mission Canyon listed first.
    • Sea Cliff
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sea Cliff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Cliff
      • Sea Cliff is located in Ventura County
    • Oak View
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Meiners Oaks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meiners Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meiners Oaks
      • Meiners Oaks is located in Ventura County
    • Mira Monte
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ojai
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ojai
      • Ojai is located in Ventura County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ojai <1>
    • Pierpont Bay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierpont Bay
      • Pierpont Bay is located in Ventura County
    • Ventura
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventura
      • Ventura is located in Ventura County
      • 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>

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

Newspapers Published in Mission Canyon ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mission Canyon.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mission Canyon, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mission Canyon.

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 Mission Canyon:

Cemeteries Near Mission Canyon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mission Canyon.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Calvary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Goleta Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goleta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goleta Cemetery
  • Santa Barbara Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • La Patera Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Patera Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Patera Catholic Cemetery
  • Carpinteria Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Ojai Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ojai Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ojai Cemetery
  • Nordhoff Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nordhoff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nordhoff Cemetery
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Hill Cemetery is located in Ballard.
    • The Oak Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8210 <4>
  • Solvang Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Solvang Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Solvang Cemetery
  • Memorial Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Cemetery

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.<5>

While we didn't find Mission Canyon in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mission Canyon.

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

  • Santa Barbara
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Summerland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Goleta
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goleta
    • Goleta is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Estimated population in 2015: 30,944 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goleta <1>
  • Ortega ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ortega have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ortega
    • Ortega is located in Santa Barbara County
  • La Patera
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Patera have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Patera
    • La Patera is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Serena
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Serena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serena
    • Serena is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Ellwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellwood
    • Ellwood is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Carpinteria
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Naples ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
    • Naples is located in Santa Barbara County
  • Sea Cliff
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sea Cliff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Cliff
    • Sea Cliff is located in Ventura County
  • Santa Ynez
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Matilija
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Matilija have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilija
    • Matilija is located in Ventura County
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Ballard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Nojoqui
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nojoqui have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nojoqui
      • Nojoqui is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Los Olivos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mission Canyon. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Santa Barbara County: www.countyofsb.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mission Canyon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mission Canyon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4508, Longitude: -119.7129       In this case, the coordinates for Mission Canyon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Mission Canyon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024