RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Butte County >> Oregon City >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
California

The Commemorative Quarter for California





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 Oregon City (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 Oregon City. 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 Oregon City ...

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.

Prior to its current name of Oregon City, it was known as Bloomingdale.

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.

Oregon City is located in Butte 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 Butte County: Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama & Yuba.

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Oregon City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Longs Bar ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Longs Bar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longs Bar
      • Longs Bar is located in Butte County
    • Elsey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bidwell ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bidwell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
      • Bidwell is located in Butte County
    • Oroville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Bidwell Bar ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bidwell Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell Bar
      • Bidwell Bar is located in Butte County
    • Lynchburg ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lynchburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
      • Lynchburg is located in Butte County
    • South Oroville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Oroville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Oroville
      • South Oroville is located in Butte County
    • South Fork ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fork
      • South Fork is located in Butte County
    • Thermalito
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermalito
      • Thermalito is located in Butte County
    • Berry Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Bend
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
      • Big Bend is located in Butte County
    • Oroville Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oroville Junction
      • Oroville Junction is located in Butte County
  • Colusa County
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Afton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
      • Afton is located in Glenn County
    • Butte City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Glenn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hamilton City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Birchville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchville
      • Birchville is located in Nevada County
    • Bridgeport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Bridgeport is located in Nevada County
    • North San Juan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Wildwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wildwood
      • Lake Wildwood is located in Nevada County
  • Plumas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Storrie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bucks Lake
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Lake
      • Bucks Lake is located in Plumas County
    • Tobin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tobin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobin
      • Tobin is located in Plumas County
    • La Porte
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Little Grass Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Grass Valley
      • Little Grass Valley is located in Plumas County
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Sierra County
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandy City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Live Oak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • Pennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Pennington is located in Sutter County
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oregon City, with the one closest to Oregon City listed first.
    • Rackerby
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Challenge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Loma Rica
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County
    • Iowa City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa City
      • Iowa City is located in Yuba County
    • Strawberry Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Oregon House
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bullards Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Dobbins
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foster Bar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
    • Browns Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County

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

Newspapers Published in Oregon City ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oregon City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oregon City, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oregon City.

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 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 Oregon City:

Cemeteries Near Oregon City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oregon City.

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

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

  • Oregon City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Cherokee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
  • Thompson Flat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Flat Cemetery
  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Creek Cemetery
  • Oroville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oroville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oroville Cemetery
  • Clarks Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Clarks Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarks Cemetery
  • Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
  • Indian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Hamilton Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Cemetery
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (42 more) ...
    • Durham Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Durham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Durham Cemetery
    • Upham Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upham Cemetery
    • Bangor Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bangor Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Bangor.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bangor Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2220275 <5>

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

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

  • Cherokee ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
    • Cherokee is located in Butte County
  • Oroville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pentz
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pentz have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pentz
    • Pentz is located in Butte County
  • Yankee Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
    • Yankee Hill is located in Butte County
  • Big Bend
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
    • Big Bend is located in Butte County
  • Wyandotte
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyandotte have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
    • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
  • Enterprise ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Enterprise have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Enterprise is located in Butte County
  • Palermo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Hurleton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurleton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurleton
    • Hurleton is located in Butte County
  • Nelson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Paradise
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Brush Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brush Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
    • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Forbestown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Durham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Bigg's
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)

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

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

The official website for Butte County: www.buttecounty.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Oregon City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oregon City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5938, Longitude: -121.5294       In this case, the coordinates for Oregon City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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 Oregon City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024