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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Odessa to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Odessa, 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 Odessa (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 Odessa. 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 Odessa is historic, it would have been located within present day Kings 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 Kings County: Fresno, Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo & Tulare.

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

  • Kings County     (The home county of Odessa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Odessa, with the one closest to Odessa listed first.
    • Home Garden
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Home Garden is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Garden
    • Hanford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Armona
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lemoore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Hardwick
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Hardwick is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Stratford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hub
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hub is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hub
    • Corcoran
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Vanguard
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Vanguard is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanguard
    • Kettleman City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Millham City ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Millham City is located in Kings County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millham City
  • Fresno County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Odessa, with the one closest to Odessa listed first.
    • Laton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Riverdale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Conejo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Conejo is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conejo
    • Kingsburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lanare
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Lanare is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanare
    • Selma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Selma is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <2>
    • Caruthers
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bowles
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bowles is located in Fresno County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowles
    • Fowler
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Parlier
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Burrel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Reedley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Huron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Tulare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Odessa, with the one closest to Odessa listed first.
    • Waukena
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Goshen
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tagus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Tagus is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tagus
    • Traver
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chinowths Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Chinowths Corner is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinowths Corner
    • Tulare
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Tulare is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,797 people
      • Tulare has also been known as:
      • Tulare City
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <2>
    • Visalia
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • London
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • London is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London
    • Loma
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Loma is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
    • Ambler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Ambler is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ambler
    • Dinuba
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Tipton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Farmersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Odessa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Odessa.

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 Odessa - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Calvary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hanford Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Potters Field
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Sam Yup Chinese Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Grangeville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Grangeville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Armona.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #247363 <3>
  • Lemoore Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the south of Lemoore.
    • The Santa Rosa Rancheria Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Tachi Indian Cemetery
    • Tachi Yokut Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152019 <3>
  • Kings River Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Rhoads Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Corcoran Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Knoll Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingsburg Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Hanford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Lillis ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Lillis is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillis
  • Goshen
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Tagus
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Tagus is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tagus
  • Traver
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Riverdale
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wildflower
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Wildflower is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildflower
  • Tulare
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Tulare is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulare
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,797 people
    • Tulare has also been known as:
    • Tulare City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tulare <2>
  • Visalia
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Selma
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Selma is located in Fresno County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selma <2>
  • Caruthers
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Monson
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Monson is located in Tulare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monson
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tipton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Farmersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Taurusa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Taurusa is located in Tulare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taurusa

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

Newspapers Published in Odessa ...

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 95 newspapers that have been published in the area around Odessa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Odessa, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Odessa.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Odessa:

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 Odessa, 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Odessa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.