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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 The Oaks (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 The Oaks. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

The Oaks is located in Mendocino 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 Mendocino County: Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Sonoma, Tehama & Trinity.

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

  • Mendocino County     (The home county of The Oaks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Oaks, with the one closest to The Oaks listed first.
    • Hermitage ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
    • Yorkville
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hopland
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Largo ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Largo is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
    • Boonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Talmage
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Ukiah
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
      • Ukiah has also been known as:
      • Ukiah City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <1>
    • Philo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gualala
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • The Forks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • The Forks is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Forks
    • Anchor Bay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Fish Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Fish Rock is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Rock
    • Signal Port
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Signal Port is located in Mendocino County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Port
      • Signal Port has also been known as:
      • Hardscratch
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Oaks, with the one closest to The Oaks listed first.
    • Lakeport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Finley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Kelseyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • North Lakeport
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • North Lakeport is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lakeport
    • Saratoga Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Saratoga Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga Springs
    • Witter Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Witter Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witter Springs
    • Soda Bay
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Robinson Rancheria
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinson Rancheria is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Rancheria
    • Upper Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenbrook
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Glenbrook is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenbrook
    • Glenview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Glenview is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenview
    • Nice
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lucerne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sonoma County
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Oaks, with the one closest to The Oaks listed first.
    • Preston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Preston is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
    • Cloverdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Annapolis
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sea Ranch
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stewarts Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Geyserville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mercuryville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Mercuryville is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercuryville
    • Cazadero
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Fort Ross
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Fort Ross is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ross
    • Healdsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Camp Rose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Camp Rose is located in Sonoma County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rose
    • Rio Nido
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Guerneville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near The Oaks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of The Oaks.

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 The Oaks - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Ornbaun Springs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Hopland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cloverdale Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cloverdale Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Cloverdale.
    • The Cloverdale Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Haywards Cemetery
    • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Riverside Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #991087 <2>
  • Indian Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Annapolis Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sugarloaf Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Ukiah Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Shields Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinoleville Rancheria Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Bourn Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Stewarts Point Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (25 more) ...
    • Hartley Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Fish Rock Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Cooper Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)

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 The Oaks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of The Oaks.

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

  • Yorkville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Hermitage ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hermitage is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
  • Hopland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pieta
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Pieta is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pieta
  • Largo ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Largo is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Largo
  • Boonville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Preston
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Preston is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
  • Cloverdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Asti
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Asti is located in Sonoma County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asti
  • Talmage
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Ukiah
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Ukiah is located in Mendocino County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukiah
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,883 people
    • Ukiah has also been known as:
    • Ukiah City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ukiah <1>
  • Philo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Highland Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Highland Springs is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Springs
    • Gualala
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in The Oaks ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around The Oaks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of The Oaks, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for The Oaks.

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 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 The Oaks:

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 The Oaks, 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 from Point A (ie- The Oaks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.