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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 Monterey (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 Monterey. 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.

A Few Details for Monterey ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Monterey was established in 1770.
  • It was incorporated on June 14, 1890.

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.

Monterey is located in Monterey 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 Monterey County: Fresno, Kings, San Benito, San Luis Obispo & Santa Cruz.

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

  • Monterey County     (The home county of Monterey)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monterey, with the one closest to Monterey listed first.
    • Point Alones ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Point Alones. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Alones
      • Point Alones is located in Monterey County
    • Pacific Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Del Rey Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey Oaks
      • Del Rey Oaks is located in Monterey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,645 people
    • Sand City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Seaside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Fort Ord Village ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Ord Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ord Village
      • Fort Ord Village is located in Monterey County
    • Carmel-by-the-Sea
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Del Monte Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Monte Forest
      • Del Monte Forest is located in Monterey County
    • Pebble Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Prattco ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prattco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattco
      • Prattco is located in Monterey County
    • Carmelito ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carmelito. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmelito
      • Carmelito is located in Monterey County
    • Marina
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <2>
    • Carmel Highlands
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Highlands
      • Carmel Highlands is located in Monterey County
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monterey, with the one closest to Monterey listed first.
    • San Juan Bautista
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • River Oaks
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
  • Santa Clara County
    • Sargent ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sargent
      • Sargent is located in Santa Clara County
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monterey, with the one closest to Monterey listed first.
    • Colache Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colache Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
      • Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Watsonville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Freedom
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • La Selva Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rio del Mar
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Amesti
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
      • Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Interlaken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Interlaken
      • Interlaken is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Opal Cliffs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opal Cliffs
      • Opal Cliffs is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Twin Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
      • Twin Lakes is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Aptos
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Capitola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Soquel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Monterey ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Monterey.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Monterey. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Monterey and those printed in the larger area surrounding Monterey.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4> of Monterey.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Monterey:

Cemeteries Near Monterey ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Monterey.

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 Monterey covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • San Carlos Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Carlos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Carlos Cemetery
  • El Encinal Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the El Encinal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the El Encinal Cemetery
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
  • El Carmeto Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Carmel Mission Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Carmel Mission Cemetery is located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
    • The Carmel Mission Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mission Carmel Cemetery
    • Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmel Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carmel Mission Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640417 <5>
  • Mission Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mission Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mission Memorial Park
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
  • Castroville Public Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Castroville Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Moss Landing.
    • The Castroville Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Castroville Cemetery
    • Castroville / Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Castroville Public Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7885 <5>
  • Yamat Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yamat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yamat Cemetery
  • Chinese Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chinese Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chinese Cemetery is located in Salinas.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chinese Cemetery
  • Monterey County Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monterey County Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monterey County Cemetery
  • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Queen of Heaven Cemetery
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Hambey Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hambey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hambey Cemetery
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Monterey had a population of 1,662 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Monterey had a population of 28,511 people.

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

  • Pacific Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Seaside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Blanco
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
    • Blanco is located in Monterey County
  • Castroville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Salinas
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Rita
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Rita have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
    • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
  • Spence
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spence
    • Spence is located in Monterey County
  • Natividad
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natividad have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natividad
    • Natividad is located in Monterey County
  • Elkhorn
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
  • Chualar
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Pajaro
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
    • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
  • Watsonville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vega have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
    • Gonzales
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Aptos
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

The official website for Monterey: www.monterey.org/

The official website for Monterey County: www.co.monterey.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Monterey) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Monterey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6012, Longitude: -121.8955    
<5>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.
<6>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 Monterey, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024