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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 Pescadero (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 Pescadero. 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.

Pescadero is located in Monterey 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 Monterey County: Fresno, Kings, San Benito, San Luis Obispo & Santa Cruz.

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

  • Monterey County     (The home county of Pescadero)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pescadero, with the one closest to Pescadero listed first.
    • Pebble Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Del Monte Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Del Monte Forest is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Monte Forest
    • Carmel-by-the-Sea
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Pacific Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Monterey
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Point Alones ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Point Alones is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Alones
    • Carmelito ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Carmelito is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmelito
    • Del Rey Oaks
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Del Rey Oaks is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Rey Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,645 people
    • Seaside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sand City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Carmel Highlands
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Carmel Highlands is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Highlands
    • Fort Ord Village ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Ord Village is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ord Village
  • San Benito County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pescadero, with the one closest to Pescadero listed first.
    • San Juan Bautista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • River Oaks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • River Oaks is located in San Benito County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Oaks
  • Santa Cruz County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pescadero, with the one closest to Pescadero listed first.
    • Watsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Colache Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Colache Town is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colache Town
    • Freedom
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • La Selva Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Opal Cliffs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Opal Cliffs is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opal Cliffs
    • Rio del Mar
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Twin Lakes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Twin Lakes is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes
    • Amesti
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Amesti is located in Santa Cruz County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amesti
    • Aptos Hills - Larkin Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Aptos
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Capitola
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Santa Cruz
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Pescadero ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pescadero.

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

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

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

  • Carmel Mission Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Mission Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Carmel Mission Cemetery is located in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
    • The Carmel Mission Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mission Carmel Cemetery
    • Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #640417 <2>
  • El Encinal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • San Carlos Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • El Carmeto Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Mission Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Castroville Public Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castroville Public Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Castroville Public Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Moss Landing.
    • The Castroville Public Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Castroville Cemetery
    • Castroville / Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Moss Landing Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7885 <2>
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Yamat Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Chinese Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinese Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chinese Cemetery is located in Salinas.
  • Monterey County Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Queen of Heaven Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Hambey Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 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.<3>

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

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

  • Monterey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Pacific Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Seaside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Blanco
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blanco is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
  • Castroville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Salinas
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Rita
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Santa Rita is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita
  • Spence
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Spence is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spence
  • Elkhorn
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Natividad
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Natividad is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natividad
  • Chualar
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Pajaro
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Pajaro is located in Monterey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pajaro
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Watsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Vega ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Vega is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
    • Posts
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Posts is located in Monterey County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Posts

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

Newspapers Published in Pescadero ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pescadero.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pescadero, 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 Pescadero.

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 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 Pescadero:

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