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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 Normal Heights (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 Normal Heights. 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 Normal Heights ...

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 Normal Heights: Normal Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 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.

Normal Heights is located in San Diego 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 San Diego County: Imperial, Orange & Riverside.

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

  • San Diego County     (The home county of Normal Heights)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Normal Heights, with the one closest to Normal Heights listed first.
    • East San Diego
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East San Diego
      • East San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • San Diego
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Clairemont
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clairemont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clairemont
      • Clairemont is located in San Diego County
    • South Crest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Crest
      • South Crest is located in San Diego County
    • Bayside Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside Village
      • Bayside Village is located in San Diego County
    • Old San Diego
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old San Diego
      • Old San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • Old Town San Diego
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Old Town San Diego. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town San Diego
      • Old Town San Diego is located in San Diego County
    • La Mesa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lemon Grove
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Coronado
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • National City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Paradise Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Hills
      • Paradise Hills is located in San Diego County
    • Tent City ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tent City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tent City
      • Tent City is located in San Diego County

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

Cemeteries Near Normal Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Normal Heights.

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

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

  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • La Vista Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Vista Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Glen Abbey Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Miramar National Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • El Camino Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • El Cajon Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Carmel Valley Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

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

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

  • San Diego
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Town San Diego
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Old Town San Diego. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town San Diego
    • Old Town San Diego is located in San Diego County
  • Coronado
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • La Mesa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • National City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Spring Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Selwyn ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selwyn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selwyn
    • Selwyn is located in San Diego County
  • Pacific Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacific Beach
    • Pacific Beach is located in San Diego County
  • Linda Vista ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linda Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linda Vista
    • Linda Vista is located in San Diego County
  • Bonita
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Sunnyside
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Sunnyside is located in San Diego County
  • La Presa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Presa
    • La Presa is located in San Diego County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Chula Vista
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • El Cajon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Santee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santee
      • Santee is located in San Diego County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 57,770 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santee <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Normal Heights ...

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 413 newspapers that have been published in the area around Normal Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Normal Heights, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Normal Heights.

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 helpful 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 Normal Heights:

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

The official website for San Diego County: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/

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>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Normal Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Normal Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7634, Longitude: -117.1228       In this case, the coordinates for Normal Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Normal Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025