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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about New Brighton. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added New Brighton to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with New Brighton, please Contact Us.

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 New Brighton (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 New Brighton. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of New Brighton is historic, it would have been located within present day Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz County: Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo & Santa Clara.

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

  • Santa Cruz County     (The home county of New Brighton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from New Brighton, with the one closest to New Brighton listed first.
    • Aptos
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Soquel
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Capitola
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Opal Cliffs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Opal Cliffs is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opal Cliffs
    • Rio del Mar
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Twin Lakes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Day Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
    • La Selva Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Santa Cruz
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pasatiempo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Pasatiempo is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasatiempo
    • Paradise Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Paradise Park is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from New Brighton, with the one closest to New Brighton listed first.
    • Pajaro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
    • Las Lomas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
    • Moss Landing
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
    • Elkhorn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
    • Aromas
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Castroville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Prunedale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Marina
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <2>
    • Prattco ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Prattco is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattco
    • Santa Rita
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
    • Boronda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from New Brighton, with the one closest to New Brighton listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
    • San Juan Bautista
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Dunneville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Dunneville is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from New Brighton, with the one closest to New Brighton listed first.
    • Loma Mar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • La Honda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from New Brighton, with the one closest to New Brighton listed first.
    • Sveadal
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
    • Patchen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
    • Chemeketa Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Chemeketa Park is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemeketa Park
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
    • Lexington Hills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
    • Redwood Estates
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • English Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • English Town is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
    • New Almaden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lexington ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Lexington is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
    • Los Gatos
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Monte Sereno
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Madrone
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Madrone is located in Santa Clara County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrone

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

Cemeteries Near New Brighton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of New Brighton.

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 New Brighton - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Soquel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soquel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Soquel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Soquel.
    • The Soquel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Beit Olam Cemetery
    • Eternal Home Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #999577 <3>
  • Oakwood Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Memorial Park
    • The Oakwood Memorial Park has also been known as:
    • Oak Wood Cemetery
    • Santa Cruz Memorial Oakwood Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #8219 <3>
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old Holy Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Day Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Santa Cruz Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Watsonville Catholic Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Felton Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felton Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Felton Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Felton.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #274025 <3>
  • Continue List   (33 more) ...
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • St. Francis Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Pajaro Valley Memorial Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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.

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

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

  • Aptos
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Soquel
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Capitola
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Santa Cruz
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Corralitos
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Laurel
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
  • Glenwood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Zayante
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
  • Felton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Watsonville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Patchen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
  • Pajaro
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Ben Lomond
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bonny Doon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega

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

Newspapers Published in New Brighton ...

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 130 newspapers that have been published in the area around New Brighton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of New Brighton, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for New Brighton.

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 New Brighton:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 New Brighton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- New Brighton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.