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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 Monroe (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 Monroe. 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.

Monroe is located in Sonoma 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 Sonoma County: Contra Costa, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa & Solano.

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

  • Sonoma County     (The home county of Monroe)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monroe, with the one closest to Monroe listed first.
    • Roseland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Roseland is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Santa Rosa
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Montgomery Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Montgomery Village is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Village
    • Fulton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • South Santa Rosa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • South Santa Rosa is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Santa Rosa
    • Bellevue
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bellevue is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
    • Sebastopol
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Trenton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Trenton is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
    • Melita
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Melita is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
    • Mark West Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Mark West Springs is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mark West Springs
    • Graton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Windsor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Forestville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monroe, with the one closest to Monroe listed first.
    • Middletown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Pine Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Pine Grove is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
    • Cobb
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hidden Valley Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Hidden Valley Lake is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Valley Lake
    • Glenbrook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Salminas Resort
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Salminas Resort is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salminas Resort
    • Seigler Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Seigler Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seigler Springs
    • Glenview
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Glenview is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
  • Marin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monroe, with the one closest to Monroe listed first.
    • Tomales
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dillon Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Hamlet
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hamlet is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
    • Nicks Cove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Nicks Cove is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicks Cove
    • Marshall
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Inverness
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Millerton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Millerton is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
    • Novato
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Old Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Old Town is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Point Reyes Station
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Nicasio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Tocaloma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Tocaloma is located in Marin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocaloma
    • Black Point - Green Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Napa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monroe, with the one closest to Monroe listed first.
    • Calistoga
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodleaf
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodleaf is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodleaf
    • Saint Helena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Deer Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rutherford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Oakville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Angwin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Pope Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Yountville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Union is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Merazo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Merazo is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merazo
    • Napa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Napa is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77,032 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Napa <1>
    • Las Putas ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Las Putas is located in Napa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Putas

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

Cemeteries Near Monroe ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Monroe.

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

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

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

  • Moke Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Stanley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Santa Rosa Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Santa Rosa Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Shomrei Torah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Fulton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Steele Family Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Chapel of the Chimes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Calvary Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Santa Rosa Calvary Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Faught Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...

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

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

  • Santa Rosa
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Trenton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Trenton is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trenton
  • Melita
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Melita is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melita
  • Windsor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Forestville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Stony Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Stony Point is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
  • Cotati
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Freestone
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Occidental
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Bloomfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloomfield is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
  • Penngrove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wildwood ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Wildwood is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
    • Ely ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Ely is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
    • Calistoga
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Monroe ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Monroe.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Monroe, 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 Monroe.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Monroe:

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 Monroe, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Monroe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.