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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 Novato (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 Novato. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Novato is located in Marin 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 Marin County: Contra Costa, San Francisco & Sonoma.

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

  • Marin County     (The home county of Novato)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Novato, with the one closest to Novato listed first.
    • Albany
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • University Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village
      • University Village is located in Alameda County
    • Berkeley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Normandy Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Normandy Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normandy Village
      • Normandy Village is located in Alameda County
    • Rochedale Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochedale Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochedale Village
      • Rochedale Village is located in Alameda County
    • Emeryville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • South Berkeley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Campbell Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Village
      • Campbell Village is located in Alameda County
    • West Oakland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Piedmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Brooklyn ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brooklyn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Brooklyn is located in Alameda County
      • Former names for Brooklyn:
      • Antonio
      • Clinton
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brooklyn
      • From Novato to Brooklyn
    • Montclair
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Novato, with the one closest to Novato listed first.
    • Sobrante
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sobrante. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sobrante
      • Sobrante is located in Contra Costa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sobrante
      • From Novato to Sobrante
    • Bayview
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
      • Bayview is located in Contra Costa County
    • Gateley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Point Richmond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • San Pablo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Tara Hills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hercules
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Atchison Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atchison Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atchison Village
      • Atchison Village is located in Contra Costa County
    • Nystrom Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nystrom Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nystrom Village
      • Nystrom Village is located in Contra Costa County
    • Pinole
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Richmond
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rollingwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollingwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
      • Rollingwood is located in Contra Costa County
    • East Richmond Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Richmond Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Richmond Heights
      • East Richmond Heights is located in Contra Costa County
  • Napa County
  • San Francisco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Novato, with the one closest to Novato listed first.
    • Amanico Ergina Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amanico Ergina Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amanico Ergina Village
      • Amanico Ergina Village is located in San Francisco County
    • Friendship Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Village
      • Friendship Village is located in San Francisco County
    • Chinatown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Sydney Town ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sydney Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydney Town
      • Sydney Town is located in San Francisco County
    • Doelger City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doelger City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doelger City
      • Doelger City is located in San Francisco County
    • Golden Gate Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • San Francisco
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Stonestown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Novato, with the one closest to Novato listed first.
    • Westlake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Broadmoor Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broadmoor Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor Village
      • Broadmoor Village is located in San Mateo County
    • Broadmoor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broadmoor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadmoor
      • Broadmoor is located in San Mateo County
    • Daly City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Brisbane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Colma
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Solano County
  • Sonoma County

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

Cemeteries Near Novato ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Novato.

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

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

  • Valley Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mission San Rafael Arcangel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Taylors Grave Site
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylors Grave Site
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylors Grave Site have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • B'nai Israel Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the B'nai Israel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the B'nai Israel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Petaluma Calvary Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Cypress Hill Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cypress Hill Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cypress Hill Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olema Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olema Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olema Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Valley Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (91 more) ...
    • Mountain Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fernwood Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fernwood Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fernwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Two Rock Presbyterian Church Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Two Rock Presbyterian Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Two Rock Presbyterian Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Novato had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Novato had a population of 53,351 people.

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

  • Ignacio
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ignacio. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ignacio
    • Ignacio is located in Marin County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ignacio
    • From Novato to Ignacio
  • Black Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Point
    • Black Point is located in Marin County
  • Donahue ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donahue have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donahue
    • Donahue is located in Sonoma County
  • Lakeville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lakeville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville
    • Lakeville is located in Sonoma County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Lakeville
    • From Novato to Lakeville
  • Nicasio
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sears Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sears Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears Point
    • Sears Point is located in Sonoma County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sears Point
    • From Novato to Sears Point
  • San Geronimo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairfax
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • San Anselmo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Ross
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • San Rafael
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Petaluma
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • McGill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McGill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGill
      • McGill is located in Sonoma County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McGill
      • From Novato to McGill
    • Tocaloma
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tocaloma. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocaloma
      • Tocaloma is located in Marin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tocaloma
      • From Novato to Tocaloma
    • Taylorville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylorville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorville
      • Taylorville is located in Marin County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Novato ...

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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Novato.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Novato. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Novato and those printed in the larger area surrounding Novato.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<7> of Novato.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Novato:

The official website for Novato: www.ci.novato.ca.us/

The official website for Marin County: www.co.marin.ca.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<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 Novato, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Novato) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Novato. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1050, Longitude: -122.5708    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025