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 Mountain View (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 Mountain View. 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 Mountain View ...
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 occur.
Another variation: Mountainview.
- A typical abbreviation for Mountain View: Mountain Vw.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mountain View. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mountain View.
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.
Mountain View is located in Contra Costa 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 Contra Costa County: Alameda, Marin, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin & Solano.
Below are the counties that are near Mountain View. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mountain View:
- Contra Costa County (The home county of Mountain View)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Vine Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Vine Hill is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine Hill
- Martinez
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Avon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Avon is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Pacheco
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Clyde
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Clyde is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Port Costa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Concord
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Port Chicago ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Port Chicago is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Chicago
- Pleasant Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Crockett
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Valona
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Valona is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valona
- Waldon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Waldon is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldon
- Tormey
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Tormey is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tormey
- Alameda County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Canyon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Albany
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Normandy Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Normandy Village is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normandy Village
- Rochedale Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rochedale Village is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochedale Village
- Montclair
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Montclair is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair
- Berkeley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- South Berkeley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- South Berkeley is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Berkeley
- Former name for South Berkeley:
- Lorin
- University Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- University Village is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
- Piedmont
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Laurel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Laurel is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
- Emeryville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Allendale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Allendale is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allendale
- Brooklyn ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Brooklyn is located in Alameda County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Former names for Brooklyn:
- Antonio
- Clinton
- Marin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Fort McDowell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Fort McDowell is located in Marin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort McDowell
- Tiburon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Paradise Cay
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Paradise Cay is located in Marin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Cay
- San Quentin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Belvedere
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sausalito
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bel Aire
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bel Aire is located in Marin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bel Aire
- Black Point - Green Point
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Cerro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Cerro is located in Marin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerro
- Corte Madera
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Greenbrae
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- San Rafael
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Santa Venetia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Santa Venetia is located in Marin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Venetia
- Napa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- American Canyon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lombard
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lombard is located in Napa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
- Middleton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Middleton is located in Napa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
- Suscol ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Suscol is located in Napa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suscol
- Suscol has also been known as:
- Soscol
- Susqual
- Merazo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Merazo is located in Napa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merazo
- Napa
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Union
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Union is located in Napa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Yountville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sacramento County
- Isleton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- San Francisco County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Chinatown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chinatown is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
- Sydney Town ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sydney Town is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydney Town
- Amanico Ergina Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Amanico Ergina Village is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amanico Ergina Village
- Friendship Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Friendship Village is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Village
- Mission District
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Mission District is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission District
- San Francisco
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Doelger City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Doelger City is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doelger City
- Golden Gate Heights
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Golden Gate Heights is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Gate Heights
- Stonestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Stonestown is located in San Francisco County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonestown
- San Mateo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Brisbane
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Broadmoor Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Broadmoor Village is located in San Mateo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor Village
- Broadmoor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Broadmoor is located in San Mateo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor
- Colma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Daly City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- South San Francisco
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Westlake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Westlake is located in San Mateo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- San Bruno
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Solano County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Benicia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Vallejo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mare Island ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mare Island is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mare Island
- Guadalcanal Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Guadalcanal Village is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalcanal Village
- Birds Landing
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Suisun City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Suisun City is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suisun City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 29,305 people
- Suisun City has also been known as:
- Suisun
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Suisun City <1>
- Fairfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Green Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mankas Corner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Mankas Corner is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mankas Corner
- Denverton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Denverton is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denverton
- Solano City ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Solano City is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solano City
- Travis Field
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Travis Field is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Travis Field
- Cannon ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cannon is located in Solano County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
- Sonoma County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Sears Point
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sears Point is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears Point
- McGill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- McGill is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGill
- Wingo ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wingo is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingo
- Vineburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeville is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
- Sonoma
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Temelec
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Temelec is located in Sonoma County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temelec
- Boyes Hot Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- El Verano
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fetters Hot Springs - Agua Caliente
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mountain View, see our County-by-County Page for Mountain View.
Cemeteries Near Mountain View ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mountain View.
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 Mountain View - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mountain View covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Alhambra Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Alhambra Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Martinez.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7834 <2>
- Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Dominics Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Military Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Queen of Heaven Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oakmount Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Queen of Haven Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oakmont Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakmont Memorial Park
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oakmont Memorial Park is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Pleasant Hill.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8221 <2>
- Memory Gardens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Benicia City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benicia City Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Benicia City Cemetery is located in Benicia.
- St. Stephen Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (75 more) ...
- All Souls Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for All Souls Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the All Souls Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Vallejo.
- The All Souls Cemetery has also been known as:
- All Souls Catholic Cemetery
- Carquinez Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carquinez Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Carquinez Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Vallejo.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7883 <2>
- St. Vincents Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Vincents Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Vincents Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Vallejo.
- The St. Vincents Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Vincent Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8342 <2>
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 Mountain View in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mountain View.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mountain View, with the one closest to Mountain View listed first.
- Martinez
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Pacheco
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Avon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Avon is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Benicia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Concord
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Port Costa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Crockett
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Walnut Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Selby
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Selby is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selby
- Tormey
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Tormey is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tormey
- Lafayette
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Bay Point
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- McAvoy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- McAvoy is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAvoy
- Vallejo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pinole
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mountain View. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mountain View.
Newspapers Published in Mountain View ...
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 123 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mountain View.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mountain View, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mountain View.
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 Mountain View:
- Websites specific to California
- Pages specific to Contra Costa County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alameda County
- Marin County
- Napa County
- Sacramento County
- San Francisco County
- San Mateo County
- Solano County
- Sonoma 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> | 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 Mountain View, 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- Mountain View) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |