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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

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

We've added Olive Springs to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Olive Springs, 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 Olive Springs (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 Olive Springs. 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 Olive Springs ...

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 Olive Springs: Olive Spgs. (or less commonly used: Olive Spngs. or Olive Sprngs.)

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 and hospitals 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.

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

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

  • Santa Cruz County     (The home county of Olive Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • The Willows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Laurel
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
      • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Glenwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
      • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Aptos
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Capitola
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Day Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
      • Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Soquel
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Scotts Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Summit
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Summit is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Summit has also been known as:
      • Loma Prieta
    • Pasatiempo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasatiempo
      • Pasatiempo is located in Santa Cruz County
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Corralitos
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Alameda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • Drawbridge ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawbridge
      • Drawbridge is located in Alameda County
      • Former name for Drawbridge:
      • Saline City
    • Albrae ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Albrae. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrae
      • Albrae is located in Alameda County
    • Larkins Landing ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Larkins Landing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkins Landing
      • Larkins Landing is located in Alameda County
  • Monterey County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • Pajaro
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
      • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Las Lomas
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Monterey County
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vega have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
    • Elkhorn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
      • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Moss Landing
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Aromas
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Castroville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Prunedale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Marina
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marina
      • Marina is located in Monterey County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marina <2>
    • Santa Rita
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Santa Rita. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
      • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
    • Prattco ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prattco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prattco
      • Prattco is located in Monterey County
    • Boronda
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boronda
      • Boronda is located in Monterey County
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • River Oaks
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
    • San Juan Bautista
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dunneville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunneville
      • Dunneville is located in San Benito County
  • San Mateo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • Loma Mar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • La Honda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ladera
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladera
      • Ladera is located in San Mateo County
    • Pescadero
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Portola Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Searsville ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Searsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searsville
      • Searsville is located in San Mateo County
    • East Palo Alto
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Menlo Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • West Menlo Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • The Willows
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Willows
      • The Willows is located in San Mateo County
  • Santa Clara County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olive Springs, with the one closest to Olive Springs listed first.
    • Patchen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
      • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
    • Sveadal
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sveadal
      • Sveadal is located in Santa Clara County
    • Lexington Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington Hills
      • Lexington Hills is located in Santa Clara County
    • Chemeketa Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemeketa Park
      • Chemeketa Park is located in Santa Clara County
    • Holy City ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holy City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy City
      • Holy City is located in Santa Clara County
    • Redwood Estates
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • English Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for English Town have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Town
      • English Town is located in Santa Clara County
    • New Almaden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lexington ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lexington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
      • Lexington is located in Santa Clara County
    • Los Gatos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Monte Sereno
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Alamitos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alamitos. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamitos
      • Alamitos is located in Santa Clara County

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

Cemeteries Near Olive Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Olive Springs.

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

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

  • Soquel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <5>
  • Oakwood Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <5>
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Day Valley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Santa Cruz Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Felton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the 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 <5>
  • Home of Peace Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Home of Peace Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Home of Peace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hacienda Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hacienda Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hacienda Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hidalgo Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hidalgo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hidalgo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Old Mexican Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Mexican Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Mexican Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the IOOF Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the IOOF Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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.

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

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

  • Laurel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel
    • Laurel is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Soquel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Capitola
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Aptos
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Glenwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
    • Glenwood is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Patchen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Patchen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchen
    • Patchen is located in Santa Clara County
  • Santa Cruz
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Corralitos
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Zayante
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zayante
    • Zayante is located in Santa Cruz County
  • Felton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • New Almaden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Ben Lomond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Guadalupe ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
      • Guadalupe is located in Santa Clara County
    • Greystone ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greystone have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
      • Greystone is located in Santa Clara County
    • Los Gatos
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Olive Springs ...

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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around Olive Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Olive Springs, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Olive Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Olive Springs:

The official website for Santa Cruz County: www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

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

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 Olive Springs, 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>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 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.
<5>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.
<6>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- Olive Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Olive Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0583, Longitude: -121.9197       In this case, the coordinates for Olive Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025