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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Pentz (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 Pentz. 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 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.

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

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

  • Butte County     (The home county of Pentz)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pentz, with the one closest to Pentz listed first.
    • Cherokee ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Cherokee is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
    • Elsey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Oregon City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Oregon City is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oregon City
      • Former name for Oregon City:
      • Bloomingdale
    • Concow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Concow is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concow
    • Paradise
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Big Bend
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Big Bend is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
    • Longs Bar ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Longs Bar is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longs Bar
    • Berry Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Thermalito
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Thermalito is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermalito
    • Bidwell ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bidwell is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell
    • Lynchburg ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Lynchburg is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
    • Bidwell Bar ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bidwell Bar is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidwell Bar
  • Colusa County
  • Glenn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pentz, with the one closest to Pentz listed first.
    • Hamilton City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Glenn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Butte City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Afton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Afton is located in Glenn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
    • Capay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Capay is located in Glenn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capay
  • Plumas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pentz, with the one closest to Pentz listed first.
    • Storrie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Tobin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Tobin is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobin
    • Bucks Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Bucks Lake is located in Plumas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Lake
    • Belden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Sierra County
    • Brandy City ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Brandy City is located in Sierra County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy City
  • Sutter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pentz, with the one closest to Pentz listed first.
    • Live Oak
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Live Oak is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Live Oak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,048 people
    • Pennington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Pennington is located in Sutter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
  • Yuba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pentz, with the one closest to Pentz listed first.
    • Rackerby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Challenge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Iowa City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Iowa City is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa City
    • Loma Rica
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Loma Rica is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Rica
    • Strawberry Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Oregon House
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bullards Bar ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bullards Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullards Bar
    • Dobbins
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Foster Bar ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Foster Bar is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Bar
    • Garden Valley ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Garden Valley is located in Yuba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Valley
    • Browns Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Pentz ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pentz.

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

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

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

  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cherokee Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cherokee Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the north of Oroville.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1967787 <3>
  • Clarks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Oregon City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Paradise Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Butte County Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Thompson Flat Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Lake Madrone Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Durham Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Centerville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Skyway Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...
    • Oroville Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Nicholl Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Nelson Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)

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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Pentz had a population of 85 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Cherokee ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Cherokee is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
  • Yankee Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Yankee Hill is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Hill
  • Paradise
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Big Bend
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Big Bend is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
  • Oroville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Magalia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Nelson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Durham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Brush Creek
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Brush Creek is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
  • Nimshew
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Nimshew is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimshew
  • Wyandotte
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wyandotte is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyandotte
  • Enterprise ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Enterprise is located in Butte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Chico
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Chico is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chico
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102,867 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chico <1>
    • Palermo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Forest Ranch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Forest Ranch is located in Butte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ranch

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

Newspapers Published in Pentz ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pentz.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pentz, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pentz.

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 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 Pentz:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Pentz) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Pentz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.